You're Awful, I Love You
by Let Love In
Summary: From the get go, Angela and Chase hated each others guts. But when he shows an interest in Maya, Angela's best friend, he grudgingly has to ask for Angela's help. What starts out as a reluctant favor soon turns into something more. ChasexAngela
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: New story… yet again. This is my first attempt at a more humorous Harvest Moon fiction. The pairing is ChasexAngela, and I hope you enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, and the title belongs to Ludo's album called 'You're Awful, I Love You', which is a lyric from their song 'Love Me Dead'. **

I knew from the moment I saw that peach-haired, snooty, bobby pin-wearing boy that we definitely wouldn't get along.

"I'm sorry, what's your name again? Amy, or whatever? I can't cook with you breathing down my freakin' neck. Could you go somewhere else?"

I seethed, huffed out my chest, and turned to leave. Who cares if this new guy was cute? He was a total jerk. I hadn't even known him for more than five minutes and I could tell we wouldn't be speaking very often.

"Oh, and Allison?" He asked me as I whirled around to face him, expecting an apology or an 'I'm just joking' kind of comment. "Tell Jake we're out of tomatoes."

Feeling my shoulders rise and fall in anger as I sighed, I opened my mouth to retort. Unfortunately for me, I had never been the best at comebacks.

"Uh, what's the magic word?" I replied with the snootiest tone I could muster. Let me tell you, it wasn't too impressive.

"… Now?"

I groaned and clenched my fists together at my sides before heading for the exit once again.

"Hey! Wait! Ariel!" He called after me. Whirling around, this time with more confidence and finesse, I yelled back,

"It's _Angela_!"

And with that, I yanked open the Sundae Inn door and practically threw myself out before he had the chance to. Jeez, what crawled up that guy's butt and died?

As I sauntered home, I ran into Maya, one of the more, er, 'eclectic' cooks at the Sundae Inn.

"Angela! Hi!" She exclaimed, waving enthusiastically. Still heated, I grunted out a greeting before trying to push past her. But she moved in my way, blocking my path home.

"Did you hear? There's a new resident in town, Chase. He works with me at the Inn now! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yeah, it's wonderful all right." I muttered under my breath, still trying to get around the Maya Blockade.

"Have you met him?" She asked, straightening out the giant poof in her dress. What in the world did she have in that dress to keep it afloat like that? Shaking the thought out of my head, I looked back up at her.

"Sure, I met him." I said dully. She squealed.

"Oh, I'm so excited! I haven't even met him yet… I think I'll go introduce myself! I made him a special cake when Yolanda told me he was coming. I think he'll love it!"

I smiled to myself as I watched her skip inside of the Inn. Crossing my arms, I stared expectedly at the door. _3…2…1…_

The door burst open, with Maya practically flinging herself outside, crying out a string of incomprehensible words. All I could really make out was 'cake… spit out… said it was awful… so upset!' I patted her on the back.

"People like him just want attention, negative or not. So just go back in there and don't say anything to him, even when he addresses you, okay?" I told her. She nodded as her cheeks still glowed red.

"Thanks, Angela. I'll see you later."

I waved goodbye before, once again, heading back in the direction of my home. It was around seven, and the moon was facing me directly as I walked, casting a blinding light upon my face. Boy, it was nights like this where I wish I had someone to watch the stars with. Almost as if on cue, I ran right into Toby. He was a fisherman, and, well… really didn't talk about anything else but fish.

"Have you seen the sky tonight?" He asked me, catching me off guard. I felt a blush creep onto my face as I nodded. "This is the perfect time of day to catch certain types of fish. Care to join me?"

Immediately my shoulders fell. Never underestimate someone who fishes for a living. Especially Toby.

"I think I'll pass for tonight." I replied. He shrugged.

"Suit yourself. See you later!" He called after me as I walked past him. This was my problem with Waffle Town… I didn't really fancy any of the guys here. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of single men, but they all had a trait or two that just didn't mesh with me. Then again, I am a very picky person.

First, there was Luke. Cute, driven, handles an axe well… what is there not to like? Well, first of all, he made a comment about being spanked by the Harvest Goddess that disturbed me a little. Also, he almost killed me _twice _with that axe of his! He was a little too reckless for me.

Then there was Jin. He always cared and he was really interested in his work. But when I passed out from working too hard in the fields, he practically smacked me for not taking better care of myself! Needless to say, I'm a little scared to go near the Meringue Clinic.

For a little while, I had a thing for Owen, an apprentice at the blacksmith. It was only a few seasons ago that I realized he looked and acted a lot like my ex-boyfriend, Bob. I still get the shivers every time I look at him.

Gill was arrogant. Enough said.

Julius was a little too girly for my taste, and Calvin was too manly for my taste (also, I heard a rumor that he doesn't date girls with natural hair color… that would explain him and Phoebe having a thing).

So that left me with no one. Well, except for that snotty son of a bitch I just met. Just thinking about him made me frown outwardly.

I arrived at my house about twenty minutes later, completely exhausted from the day's errands. Hopping into my bed and flipping on the TV, I saw that the Waffle Island News was on. Seeing as there were no other channels, I settled under my covers and watched intently as Elli, the host of various TV shows and a worker at the Town Hall, popped up onto the screen. She gave a cheesy smile and looked down at her papers before beginning.

"We have a new resident here in Waffle Town!" She began. I groaned outwardly, "We will have many more newcomers, due to the new changes on the island, so make sure you introduce yourself!"

I frowned, pulling the covers up to my neck.

"Also, tomorrow is the Fall Flea Market, so make sure you have some spending money! That's all for today! Stay tuned for 'Kingdom of Wildlife'!"

Yawning and flipping the TV off, I stretched my arms high above my head. Weariness had soon taken its toll on my eyelids, and eventually I fell into a deep sleep.

I was woken up the next morning by the crow of one of my chickens, Scruffy. Rubbing my eyes vigorously, I looked up at the white ceiling and sighed. Time to get up. Not noticing how close to the edge of the bed I was, I rolled over and flopped right onto the floor, bringing the covers and sheets with me. I could already tell this was going to be a bad day.

I got dressed and made myself orange juice for breakfast before going outside to tend to my crops. Afterwards, I herded the animals outside to the field to shear and milk the sheep and cow, respectively. Afterwards, I counted my money as I headed over to the Flea Market to buy a carrot cake.

The Waffle Square area was decorated with steamers and various other colorful objects. People had already set up their stands and were waiting for customers. Walking slowly around the vicinity, I spotted the carrot cake on a stand run by no other than Chase himself. Sighing and mustering up some confidence, I made my way over to the stand.

"One carrot cake." I said dully, not even bothering to look at him.

"What's the magic word?" He asked me, smiling slyly at his mockery. I rolled my eyes. If he wanted to play that game, then _fine_.

"… Now?" I repeated what he had said last night in the exact same condescending manner. Now it was his turn for an eye roll.

"Very clever." He muttered, setting the carrot cake on the counter.

"Why are you even running this stand? You've been here for a day." I asked him as I took out my wallet.

"Jake and Colleen had other things to do. And Maya…" He began, blushing unnoticeably as he said her name but then catching himself, "well; she's probably off making more disgusting and bitter cakes or something."

"Son of a bitch…" I whispered inaudibly under my breath.

"What was that?"

"I said, how much?"

"900G."

"What?!" I exclaimed, my jaw dropping open. He smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't make the prices. Now cough it up!"

Sighing, I reached for the money and slammed it down on the counter before stowing the cake away in my rucksack and leaving the Square. It was only ten in the morning and I was already sick of today. As I made my way to Maple Lake District, I heard a small explosion coming from the Sundae Inn. Rushing to the door, I opened it just slightly. All shops were closed today, but I'm sure whoever was in there wouldn't mind some help.

"Oh, no…" I heard Maya say to herself in a gloomy voice. Stepping into the Inn, I saw that the whole kitchen looked like a tornado had passed over it, and then turned around and came back again. It was a mess.

"Maya? What happened?" I asked, advancing towards the kitchen. She slowly untied her apron and hung it on the doorknob, looking upset.

"I've been trying to cook something great for the Harvest Festival's cooking contest that's in a few days… but I can't make anything! Why does everything I cook blow up?" She asked, wiping some soot off of her face. I patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it! It's just a festival, it's not like some renowned chef is going to be there to give you a million dollars for having the best dish. Don't sweat it!" I told her. She sighed.

"Maybe he won't give me a million dollars, but…"

"Maya, no. You're not thinking about Chase, are you? Oh come on! He's not a renowned chef…"

"Yeah, but he's the next best thing! Oh, Angela, I was so upset when he insulted my cake. I just have to make a better one." She replied.

"Why would you want to impress that jerk anyways?" I asked, remembering what he had said just a few minutes before about her, "It's not worth your time. Trust me. Your cooking skills will get better on their own; you can't force yourself to cook something amazing to impress that air-headed creep. Do yourself a favor and forget about him!"

She was silent for a few moments, contemplating this in her head before she looked up at me and smiled genuinely.

"You're totally right. He's a loser!"

With that, we laughed and started on cleaning up the kitchen before anyone saw the mess. Unfortunately, time was not on our side. It was about three in the afternoon, and the kitchen wasn't half as clean as it was before Maya got through with it. Sighing and wiping my brow, I kept scrubbing the inside of the oven while she picked off dried-up frosting bits from the ground. That's when the door swung open. It was our favorite person in the world.

"Oh, the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful…" He sang as he came through the door, obviously not aware that anyone was in the Sundae Inn at the moment. Glancing at us, he turned scarlet for a moment but quickly got over it.

"Why are you here?" He asked me, before seeing the real disaster: the kitchen. "What the hell happened?"

"Um, just a cooking accident, that's all." Maya squeaked at him. Jabbing my elbow into her ribcage, I gave her a glare that reminded her of our conversation just a few hours ago.

"You attempted to cook again?" He asked, trying to suppress a laugh. She glowered at him.

"For your information," She began, wringing the dishrag in her hands before throwing it onto the ground, "I am a _great _cook. And if you have a problem with me," She continued, walking out of the kitchen doorway and into the dining area as I trailed behind her, "Or any of my cooking, you can just bring that up with my _father_!"

With that, she huffed out her chest and bounded up the steps of the Inn. He stood in silence, the redness in his cheeks still flaring as he watched her run up the stairs.

"Burn." I muttered to him as I left, but he was still gazing at the stairs. The odd thing was that it wasn't a look of anger or malevolence. It was a look of… longing? I shuddered as I pushed open the door and headed out into the cool Fall air, leaving him to tend to the mess in the kitchen.

**A/N: So? What do you think so far? I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and favorited this story! This chapter is a little longer, thankfully, and I hope you guys enjoy it!**

I woke up the morning of the Harvest Festival with the largest headache. Groaning and rolling over, careful not to fall out of my bed this time, I got up reluctantly and grabbed my rucksack. I figured I could quickly put something together for the cooking contest they would be having this afternoon. My hopes weren't set on winning, but maybe there was some sort of participation prize money. After all, I was pretty broke at the time, and entering something really couldn't have hurt.

Checking the refrigerator, I pulled out a fresh fish I caught yesterday and an herb from this past Summer. Cutting the herbs and sprinkling them over the top of the fish, I chucked it into the oven and let it cook while I tended to the crops and animals. When I came back, the fish had nicely browned in the oven and the herbs were sizzling on top of it.

"Perfect." I said to myself before carefully wrapping it up and putting it in my rucksack. Feeling slightly better about my headache, I walked to the Brownie Ranch with a smile on my face and a skip in my step.

"Angela!" Maya called from behind me once I entered the Ganache Mine District. I let her catch up to me and we walked together.

"Did you cook anything?" She asked me. I shrugged.

"Herb fish, it's pretty decent. You?"

"Well… I made a cake. With leftover oranges from the summer, I really hope Cha- I mean, the judges, like it."

I narrowed my eyes at her as I spoke, "Are you trying to impress Chase?"

She looked away as she turned red, "No, no. I don't even think he likes oranges."

"Oh, come on! Oranges are his favorite food!" I practically yelled, getting angry that she was trying to make an impact on that creep.

"How did you know that?" She asked. Now it was my turn to glow red.

"Uh, well, Gill wanted me to alphabetize some books in the library in exchange for a free look at the resident record cards in the Town Hall instead of having to pay 70G like usual. I caught a look at Chase's because it just happened to be one of the first ones because his name starts with a 'C' and all… You know, it's really not that important." I babbled on and on, scratching the back of my head as I did so.

"… You do know that those resident record cards are free for everyone to look at? You don't have to pay."

"What?! I'm going to strangle that pale little… That's not the point. You're trying to impress Chase, and all he's going to do is put you down again!"

"But I worked really, _really _hard this time!" She exclaimed with a pout. I sighed.

"Whatever you say, Maya." I muttered as we entered the festival area. Many different villagers were idly wandering around the ranch, eating foods and playing whack-a-mole games in the fields. With real moles. Isn't that considered animal cruelty? Anyways. The cooking contest table was already piled with entries when Maya and I approached Yolanda.

"Are you girls entering the contest?" She asked, smiling. We nodded as I took my crumpled herb fish (it was lying under my hammer) out of my rucksack and unwrapped it. I could clearly see the distaste in Yolanda's facial expression, but she told me to place it on the table anyways. Maya took out her rather discolored orange cake and put it on the table as well, looking very proud of her own work. Goddess bless her poor, naïve soul.

At around four, Yolanda called for everyone to gather around so her and Chase could judge the entries. They would pick up a plate, both take a bite, and then write something down on a chart before moving on. At a snail's pace, they picked up the plates one by one and tried the various foods on it, making 'hmm' and 'mmmm' noises before putting the plates back down.

"This one is… Owen's. A grape cocktail." Yolanda announced. As I wondered about the severity of Owen's alcoholism (seriously, a cocktail for a cooking contest?) they both took sips of the drink and scribbled notes down before picking up my herb fish.

"This one is… Angela's." Yolanda said, looking rather unenthusiastic about trying my flattened herb fish. After making various faces and noises, they wrote down notes and picked up Maya's cake.

"This one is… Maya's." Yolanda called out, still looking unenthusiastic. One could practically see the snicker willing to break out of Chase's mouth. Taking a bite, his face contorted into many different expressions. At first, he was sneering, and then he looked surprised, and then he looked amorous, and then he sneered again. Yolanda actually smiled as she took a bite, and they both attacked the paper with their pens.

"I don't think he liked it." Maya whispered from behind me. I knew he did, though. It was quite obvious, but Maya was a little… slow when it came to these sorts of things. However, I knew Chase would never admit to liking her cake.

"All right, give us a few moments to choose the winner!" Yolanda exclaimed.

"Is there a participation prize?" I accidentally said a little too loud. Luckily, it was a big crowd, so I ducked to make sure Yolanda didn't see who blurted out the comment.

"No, there is no participation prize." She said to nobody in particular before leaving the area with Chase to choose the winners. Popping back up, I started to chat idly with Hamilton.

"I think they really liked mine!" He said jovially, chuckling and grabbing his belly as he did so.

"Really? What did you cook?" I asked him, shoving my hands into my pockets.

"I cooked the Weird Dish. You know, I really just threw a few ingredients into an aging pot and it totally worked! They were positively glowing when they had some!"

My eyes widened. Yeah, they were glowing all right. Glowing _green_. They probably left the area to go throw up! I laughed nervously at the mayor.

"Heh, sounds delicious."

Just then, the judges came back with smiles on their faces.

"The winner of the cooking contest is… Julius, with his pumpkin ca-" Yolanda was interrupted with a very loud 'ahem', "I'm sorry, _fabulous _pumpkin cake. Thanks for entering."

The crowd cheered and dispersed rather quickly as Maya and I walked towards Maple Lake District. As we were walking, Chase slicked past us, holding his stomach as he did so. The Weird Dish must have gotten to him. But of course, knowing Chase, he had to turn around and say something snide. Even while he was about to barf all over the sidewalk.

"Nice cake, Maya." He called from a few feet in front of us. Maya's face lit up.

"Really? You think so?" She asked, a hint of hopefulness in her voice.

"Yeah, if your definition of 'nice' is 'crap'!" He yelled after us as he kept barreling down the sidewalk, almost knocking over Jin as he did so.

"You know, that was an awful insult. Even for him." I muttered to Maya, who looked positively dejected. She sighed.

"I'm totally done with that guy... Can I come over? I don't think I want to go back to the Inn until later." Maya asked after a few moments of silence. I nodded.

"Sure, no problem."

Just a few minutes later, we arrived at my house and collapsed at the table, both of us sighing heavily in exhaustion.

"You know, I spent a lot of time on that cake." She said angrily, picking at a stray wood chipping on the table.

"Yeah. Why is that guy such a jerk? Heck, why are all the guys in this town such duds?" I asked. She looked up at me.

"I thought you liked Calvin?" She asked as she rested her head against her hand.

"What? No. Where did you even hear that?" I asked.

"Phoebe. She came in to the Inn with her mom one day, complaining that you were 'stealing her man' or something." She said absentmindedly. I narrowed my eyes.

"What a bitch… No, I don't like Calvin. He's a little too manly for my taste, as weird as that sounds."

"Yeah, and I hear he doesn't like girls with natural hair colors. Go figure."

We both laughed halfheartedly to ourselves.

"What about Gill?" She asked, reminding me all over again that I had to give him a taste of my fist for charging me to see those resident cards.

"I considered it. But he's a little too prissy. And marrying Hamilton's son? Our wedding present would be Hamilton's Signature Weird Dish that he claims the judges loved so much."

Maya chuckled, covering her mouth as she did so, "You're totally right. The guys in Waffle Town really are pretty plain."

We sat there for the rest of the night, complaining about boys, marriage, cooking, working, etcetera, etcetera. Finally, she left at around midnight when she was sure that Chase had gone to bed. Exhausted and still pissed at that peach-haired loser for being so rude today, I jumped into my bed and fell right asleep.

Winter came faster than I could have imagined. Unluckily for me, that means there was no crop production whatsoever and I probably wouldn't be making much money at all. Joy.

The snow immediately began to fall the first day of Winter, covering the once colorful ground with a blanket of white. I slipped on my many layers of clothing and fed the animals before heading to Waffle Town with my arms wrapped tightly around my body. Wandering idly about the main town, I saw Yolanda next to the mayor's house, sitting on a bench.

"Hello," I greeted her as I approached her. She looked up at me and waved warmly.

"Hi, Angela. How are you?" She asked me.

"I'm fine. A little cold, but fine. Why aren't you in the Inn?"

"Oh, Chase has everything covered in there. He really knows how to handle the cooking at the Inn, so sometimes I just let him do his own thing. He does have to learn still, you know, and I can't be guiding him the whole way." She said rather fast, "He's really something."

I coughed a little, clearly perturbed. Did she really not notice how he treated everyone?

"Yeah, but have you noticed that he's, well… he's a," I really couldn't think of any word that didn't contain a profanity in it, "He's a, um, a mean… person?"

She frowned a little before looking up at me with a calm façade, "I notice that he can be rude, yes. But, well, he has his reasons."

"What do you mean, reasons?" I asked, scratching the back of my scalp. She sighed heavily.

"Just a bad past, that's all. I really can't delve deeper than that, sweetie; I don't want to be giving you false information. Ask him for yourself, if you are interested."

I almost laughed out loud at that statement. Ask him a civil question? I couldn't even go through a two second conversation without wanting to strangle him. Just then, the door next to us opened and Gill popped out of the mayor's house. Upon seeing him, a sudden animal instinct clicked on in my brain. His eyes widened when he saw the intense glare I was giving him.

"Get over here, you little punk!" I screeched, running after him as he sprinted towards the Town Hall, "Where's my money? Give me that money, you jerk!"

After a few minutes of chasing, and a few moments of actually considering doing physical harm to him if he didn't give me back all the money he took from me, he paid me back.

Tired and 490G richer, I headed to the Waffle Square to check the news board. I had been living here for quite a while, yet I still didn't bother to buy a calendar to check when the town's events were.

Pinching my chin, I stared at the board intensely. _New residents, new items at the Souffle Farm, Flea Market dates, some graffiti that says 'Luke Rox', Thanksgiving Day_ – ah hah! There's one event I didn't know about. _Make cakes for your friends and loved ones! Winter 10__th__._

Nodding to myself and checked the rest of the ads when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Whirling around, I saw nobody. Shrugging, I went back to the board when I felt a tap on my other shoulder. Turning fully around, there was absolutely no one in sight. Frowning, I went to turn around again when I felt someone practically attack me.

"Aiiyeeee!"

I had fallen flat on my face, curling up into a ball as I landed. Reaching frantically into my pocket, I pulled out a can of old pepper spray from when I lived in the city and I pointed it at the culprit.

"Back off! I have pepper spray!" I screamed. The person above me laughed hysterically, slapping his knees and clutching his stomach. I could recognize that chuckle anywhere, and I was about ready to drench his face in pepper spray anyways.

"Your face… was…so funny…" He exclaimed between gasps. Getting up abruptly, I kicked him in the shin, "Ow, what the hell?"

I grinned slyly at Chase, who was now grabbing at his leg in agony.

"Oh, come on. I barely kicked you." I said as calmly as I could, still extremely embarrassed from the way I acted just a few moments ago.

"I have… a leg problem, okay?" He lied, "You didn't have to kick me."

"And you didn't have to attack me." I replied triumphantly, "Why did you do that in the first place?"

"I have to ask you something." He said in all seriousness, running a hand through his wild hair. My smile wiped from my face at his sudden genuine voice.

"What is it?"

"I… uh, well, I like Maya." He blurted out, not daring to look me in the eye.

"What?" I shouted. Just like he had moments ago, I burst into a fit of giggles, "You're not… serious… are you?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath. I continued to laugh as he just stared at me clutching at my stomach and wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Okay, no really. What do you want to ask me?"

"You know, that was really hard for me to say." He said rather rudely, "I _like _Maya."

"How can you like her? You make fun of her constantly, you put her down, and you make her feel like crap!" I exclaimed, suddenly angry with him. How could he toy with her like that? And with me? Man, this guy had some weird issues.

"I know, I know. I'm awful with girls, care to rub it in my face more?" He said heatedly, "Anyways, I need your help."

Narrowing my eyes, I stared at him silently for a few moments. "… What?"

"Are you freakin' deaf or something? I need your help!" He said rather loudly.

"You're calling me deaf? What a good way to go about asking me for help." I replied very sarcastically, trying to push past him but he held out his arms like a fence to keep me from breaking out of this conversation.

"I'm being serious right now. I really can't do this by myself. I mean, you're her best friend and you see how she views me." He exclaimed exasperatedly, collapsing onto a nearby bench.

"And whose fault is that?"

He sat still for a few moments, looking at a random speck on the ground. He knew that I was right, but he probably wasn't going to accept it.

"Like I said, I'm not very good with girls. So will you help me? Please? Look, I used the magic word and everything."

I sighed and looked him straight in the eye, "Let me get this straight. You boss me around the first day I meet you, you treat Maya and me like dirt, you insult her every chance you get, you practically sneak attack me, and now you want me to set you up with Maya?"

"… Yeah, that's about right."

"Well, then my answer is no. Goodbye, now." I replied very coldly before turning on one heel and heading for the steps. I heard him mutter a slew of profanities under his breath, but I didn't really care.

"The nerve of that guy!" I mumbled to myself as I headed home. The sun was just starting to set and all I really wanted to do was flop onto my bed and watch TV.

The next morning, I got a knock on my door at 6 o'clock sharp. Grumbling, I waddled my way to the door and opened it, not at all surprised by who I saw.

"Please?" He asked as soon as I opened the door, handing me a low quality chicken egg. I glowered at him.

"Why do you think I would need a chicken egg? I have three chickens!" I exclaimed animatedly. From behind him, he pulled out two more chicken eggs.

"… I know, I collected the eggs for you, heh. You know, to make your morning process easier and junk. So, will you do it?"

I slammed the door in his face.

Two days later, while I was doing my weekly fishing at Maple Lake, he popped up right behind me with a bucket full of bait. The next day, he wrote 'Please?' in the snow in front of my house. Three days after that, he offered to do all of my morning chores. This guy was _determined_.

Finally, it was Thanksgiving. I woke up bright and early to yet another knock on my door. Flinging it open while still half asleep, I yelled,

"I'm not going to do your stupid favor, Chase, so leave me alone!"

Opening my eyes fully, I looked to see that it wasn't Chase, it was Toby.

"Uh, is this a bad time?" He asked me with a cake in his hand.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry! Thank you, Toby, I wish I had something to give to you right now but I'm a little short on ingredients. Rain check?"

He smiled warmly at me, "That sounds good. See you!"

Shutting the door behind me, I slid down the wooden frame and sighed. This guy was really driving me up the wall.

_Knock knock._

"Speak of the devil…" I muttered to myself. Standing up and opening the door, I gave Chase a very uninterested look as he presented me with a cake that had the word 'Please?' written messily on the top.

"You are relentless." I said, taking the cake and setting it on my table carelessly.

"So… will you help me?" He asked, clasping his hands together as if he were praying, "If you don't, I'll bother you like this for the rest of your life."

My eyes widened, suddenly realizing that if he were to bother me like this for the rest of my days, I would definitely go crazy. Cakes every day, stupid favors here and there, millions of items with the word 'Please?' written on them… I wouldn't be able to take that.

"Fine. I'll help you. But _only _if you cooperate with me. I know Maya a little more than you do, so you're really going to have to listen to and respect me."

It was completely obvious that he wasn't listening to a word I said other than 'fine'. He squealed happily before quickly catching himself and going back to his usual scowling face.

"Good. Do you want me to, um, come by tomorrow?"

"Sure, whatever. Stop by at around nine when I'm done with the animals."

Trying his best to hide his smile, he ran off before muttering a very inaudible 'thank you'. I sighed, wondering what I was getting myself into. Heading back inside, I glanced at the cake he had given me, and suddenly got an idea. Carefully scraping off the word 'Please?', I re-frosted the cake and ran to On The Hook. Toby was right outside of the building, fishing casually like he always was.

"Toby!" I exclaimed, running towards him with the cake. He grinned widely as I came closer to him, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

**A/N: Now we've seen Chase's mean side and Chase's annoying-as-heck side, when will we see his nice side...? Heh. Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks so much for all of the reviews! I'm glad you guys like this story. Now, onto the next chapter!**

I woke up the next day (or Doomsday, as I called it) at six sharp and went about my normal morning routine. Well, as normal as it could get. Every few moments I would get the shivers just thinking of Chase coming inside my _house_, touching my _things_, and leaving his eau de Chase all over the place (seriously, that guy smelled like burnt food all day, every day). But then I would question myself on why I was nervous. It's not like the guy was doing this to secretly shank me, or something.

Although… that did sound pretty Chase-like to me. Must remember to wear extra layers of clothing.

That morning, I made sure to brush and pet my animals for an extra few minutes or so, not wanting to seem eager and ready at exactly nine o'clock. When I finally emerged from the barn at quarter past nine, he was already standing outside of my house. His hands were shoved deep inside his apron pockets, and his lanky form was hunched over and weary. Looks like someone didn't get a lot of sleep.

"Um, hello?" I called out to him, not entirely sure how to address him. After all, we had never really had a civil conversation.

"Took you long enough – I mean… hi."

I scowled, wondering why in the world I said yes to him in the first place, and I led him inside. Instantly making himself comfortable, he plopped down on a table chair.

"Okay, let's get this over with." I muttered as I sat across from him at the table. He leaned back in his chair obnoxiously as he began to pick at his nails.

"So, Maya. Tell me about her." He began. I sighed, resting my chin on my hand as I searched through the millions of facts swimming around in my mind.

"Well, for starters, she's sensitive. But I guess you already knew that, seeing as you upset her every time you talk to her." I said rather bluntly.

"I get it! I'm a bad person, and all that junk. Now, be serious please."

I groaned inwardly, still wondering why I let this guy into my house. He's already bossing me around! And I could practically visualize the burnt food smell seeping into the chair he was leaning backwards in.

"Fine. Maya is generally a really happy person, but she gets _very _bad mood swings. And she really loves to cook, even if she isn't very good." I began.

"Yeah, no kidding." He commented dryly, fingering a strand of hair and examining it thoroughly.

"You are such an ass."

"Takes one to know one," He muttered, sticking his tongue out at me playfully.

"Reverting to childlike sayings, are we?" I replied rather cleverly, leaning in to the table in attempts to get him to fall backwards in his chair, but to no avail.

"Whatever, snob."

"I know you are, but what am I?" I playfully cajoled, mimicking a child's voice as I did so. He groaned.

"Back to the matter at hand, eh?" He suggested. I sighed in defeat, inching my way closer to the edge of the table.

"Like I said, Maya loves to cook. The fact that you hate everything she attempts to cook really upsets her, probably because she's already had her parents breathing down her neck about improving."

Flinging my hand to my mouth, I gasped out loud. She had told me that not many people knew how hard her parents were on her… and I just told the person she hates most. Wow, I'm a bad friend.

"Really? Colleen and Jake?" He asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"But I really wasn't supposed to tell anyone that. I mean, they're such nice people, no one would expect that they really come down on their only daughter."

He made a 'hmm' noise as he scratched his chin. Leaning back a little farther in his chair, he propped his feet onto my table without my consent. He then fell completely silent for once in his life, and I basked in the rarity until he opened his mouth again.

"You know… that cake was actually good."

I narrowed my eyes at him intensely.

"Then why the _hell _did you tell her it was crap?" I practically screamed, bumping my knee hard against the table. The chain reaction was enough to send Chase toppling towards the floor in the chair he had been leaning backwards on.

"Ow!" He screeched, lying on the floor for a few moments before slowly and steadily standing. "That was uncalled for!" He exclaimed a little softer this time, rubbing his lower back tentatively.

"I'm sure it didn't hurt _that _bad."

"Well, I have a bad… back."

"So, you have a bad back and a leg problem? Wow, you must be hurting 24/7. For future reference, you should tell me what else is wrong with you or else I might end up hurting it, too. For instance, your-"

"Stop right there. I know what you're going to say, and frankly, I'm shocked. Little Miss Perfect Farmer has a bit of a nasty mind, eh?"

"I was going to say ego. But whatever floats your boat."

He sighed exasperatedly, running a gangly hand through his hair.

"Listen… I know we don't exactly like each other, but I really want this to work out." He murmured in all seriousness. I was actually caught off guard for a moment.

"Why, though?" I asked out of curiosity. Sure, I was helping him out and all, but I never even considered asking about his motives.

"I… don't know how to put it into words."

I tapped my fingers on the table, willing for him to go on.

"I guess I really just like her zest, you know? Mood swings or not, I like a girl with a saucy attitude."

Disregarding his use of food-related adjectives (I wonder if that's how he describes all the women he likes?), what he had said about her was actually kind of sweet. In a totally weird, Chase-like sort of way.

"All right, then. So you really did like her cake?"

He nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess so. I more so liked the use of oranges than the cake itself. When it comes to oranges, well… how can I resist? I was certainly blown away. Well, as blown away as I could have been after eating that dish that the mayor entered… I'm still queasy after that one."

I chuckled heartily, remembering the sight of him clutching his stomach and barreling down the road.

"Well, Chase, you need to tell her all of this. She'll never believe you if I'm the one to tell her."

Almost instantly, his face fell completely pale.

"Uh… what? No. I can't."

Rolling my eyes, I leaned back in my chair. I had forgotten about him being 'awful with girls', as he put it.

"You have to. Seriously, I can't be your messenger!"

"No, you don't understand. I _cannot._ I will just end up pissing her off more, trust me. It's what I do."

I nodded very slightly to myself, knowing that he was right but I was still not very happy about having to tell her myself. What would she think? First I tell her he's a loser, next I'm telling her to consider him?

"I don't know. What do I say? 'Hey, Chase likes you, and you should totally date him even though he's been a jerk to you for the very short time that you've known him'?"

He frowned at me for a moment, but didn't say anything. From the looks of it, he was clearly thinking very hard about this. I impatiently picked at my nails as he stared into the distance with the blankest look on his face. Honestly, he looked possessed, but I didn't say anything to break his train of thought.

"Oh! I have an idea." He exclaimed, "How about tomorrow, you go into the Inn at, say, eleven or so. Strike up a casual conversation about… I don't know, make-up or whatever the hell you girls talk about. Just distract her. All the while, I'll be cooking in the kitchen, pretending not to listen to a word you've said, not unlike the norm, until I finish cooking meals. I'll claim that I made too much food, and you'll claim that you have to go do… farm-like things. Then, I will casually, but not too kindly, offer her the extra meal. It's flawless!"

"Yeah, except for the fact that _you have no idea what to say_." I pointed out rather rudely. This sudden realization made his face fall. "But I have a plan."

Sighing out of relief, he smiled genuinely (Wow, look at those pearly whites! …I should really slap myself for thinking these thoughts.)

"Lay it on me!"

"You know the window on the side of the Inn? The one covered by the bushes?" I asked him as he nodded knowingly, "I could hide there. You know, undercover and all. You're just going to have to make sure it's open, so every time you say something stupid I can make a noise… or better yet, I can throw something at you."

He seethed a little at the last comment, but overall seemed happy about the plan.

"Well, shit, Little Miss Perfect Farm Girl, you're pretty clever with this business."

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" I joked, but almost immediately regretted it. For some reason, he didn't laugh or even reply with some snide remark. He looked completely blank for a moment, but then realized that I was staring at him.

"I should go. Come by the Sundae Inn kind of early tomorrow so we can, um, plan and junk. See ya."

Before I even had the chance to reply, he was up and out the door in seconds. I was utterly confused. Did I say something wrong…?

After a few moments of wondering, I decided to stop dwelling on it. Why was I caring, anyways? The only reason I was helping him was for Maya's sake. Sure, she couldn't see it now, but the guys in the village were quickly pairing up. Setting her up with Chase wasn't the worst idea in the world, although it wasn't the best either.

Getting up abruptly, I headed for the door and decided to go fishing at the Cream Beach. I was running very low on money, and I figured that I might as well get my mind off of this matchmaking thing. I grabbed my pole and whistled my way over to the beach, stopping just short of the Tailor's Shop. There, crossing her arms tightly over her body was Candace, while Julius was busy consoling her over something. It wasn't until after I got a little closer that I heard what they were saying… and saw what Candace was wearing.

"I-I just feel, um, uncomfortable?" She squeaked out. She was wearing a shorter blouse-and-skirt combination than normal, and instead of being a deep, blue-ish purple, it was bright teal. And I'm talking _bright_. It had all sorts of frills garnishing the hem of the shirt. The skirt seemed rather short for her taste, and she was desperately pulling down on the bottom.

"But I made it special for you!" He cried out, looking very upset. "And besides, you look _amazing_." She sighed nervously.

"O-okay, I'll wear it. But only for today… if that's all right with you."

Julius grinned widely as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. I sighed to myself at the sight. All this time, I have been worrying about getting Maya a new beau, but what about myself? The Winter season was upon us; love was in the air, and where was I? Too busy playing matchmaker. Surprise, surprise.

Shoving my fishing pole into my rucksack, I groaned inwardly as I saw Julius giving Candace Eskimo kisses with his nose. Sickening.

I decided instead to head over to the mines. Sure, I couldn't rake in a ton of money, but being alone under the ground like that was pretty tranquil. My good mood returning, I happily entered the mine but stopped short, yet again.

Inside the cave were Phoebe and Calvin, looking as if they were having an intimate conversation. Embarrassed about intruding on this little tête-à-tête, I turned to leave before I heard my name.

"Angela, hey!" Calvin called to me. Whirling around, I was completely aware that my cheeks were bright red. He motioned for me to come closer with a friendly face while Phoebe crossed her arms with a huff. Damn, Calvin, why do you have to be so nice?

"What are you doing here?" He asked enthusiastically as if we hadn't seen each other in years.

"Oh, you know… just searching for gems and whatnot." I said awkwardly, fighting the urge to liquefy into the ground from embarrassment. Phoebe slipped her arm around Calvin's in a protective fashion, as if she was a lion guarding a cub.

"What a coincidence, so were we." She said dully. I laughed without any humor as she raised her free arm and combed her fingers through her awfully unnatural hair.

"Sounds like fun." I muttered.

"Well, hey! Do you want to join us?" Calvin asked me happily as I noticed Phoebe's grip growing very tight on his arm. She inched closer to him as a silence filled the air.

"You know, I really shouldn't. I just remembered I have to go buy bird feed at the Brownie Ranch."

"But I thought they were closed today?"

"No, no." I retorted as confidently as I could, "They aren't closed today."

"… I'm pretty sure they are."

Damn. What could I do? I wasn't about to spend my afternoon digging for gems with Indiana Jones and his 'lovely assistant'. I had to come up with something, and quick.

"Oh! Look at the time… I'm late for a doctor's appointment. Nice seeing you!" I called after them as I hurriedly ran towards the exit. Behind me I heard Phoebe murmur,

"But aren't they closed today, too?"

Note to self: never talk to Calvin or Phoebe ever again.

Making my way to the Prailine Forest, I picked up a few herbs and headed home for the day. I was sick of seeing people, especially couples, and all I really wanted to do was make a nice, steaming cup of herbal tea and fall asleep. And that is exactly what I did.

_My eyelids flutter open and I'm in a place I recognize vaguely. Is this…? Yes. It's the church on the hill near the Maple Lake District, and I'm standing at the alter. Frowning, I squint and look out into the crowd of people._

_The first two people I see are Maya and Chase. They looked rather unhappy with each other, even if they were holding hands like a casual couple. Maya sees me looking at her and waves happily, and all I can do is fake a smile back at her._

_Next to them are Julius and Candace. It's obvious that Julius has made his outfit for the occasion, for I have never seen it before. Next to him, Candace looks nervous and fidgety as she glances around her. "Weddings make me n-nervous." I hear her whisper in his ear._

_On the next set of pews is Gill and Luna. Wait… what? I thought that was illegal. Isn't Luna like, twelve or something? Whatever. Next to them is Toby and Renee, talking about fishing, smelling like fish, and the more I stare at them, looking like fish, too._

_Then there was Calvin and Phoebe. She is sitting on his knees, holding her arms out wide, and shielding him from the public._

_"Are you looking at my man?" She asks menacingly at Kathy, who is holding on to Owen for dear life._

_"Ow!" I hear someone call from the back of the church. Squinting as hard as I can, I see Luke being spanked by the Harvest Goddess._

_"Dearly beloved," I hear an unfamiliar voice begin. Looking at the pastor, I realize that it isn't Mayor Hamilton. It's Craig, the sarcastic jerk from the Souffle Farm, "We gather here today to join this man, and this incompetent little twerp."_

_Frowning, I look to my right to see my knight in shining armor, my husband, my… MAYOR HAMILTON?!_

_There stands the pudgy man, looking absolutely jovial as Craig says the vows in a monotone voice. Looking at me, he gives me a wink just as it is announced that we are now wife and husband._

_"You may kiss the bride." Craig says very dully._

_"NOOOOOOO!"_

Bolting upright in my bed, I felt the beads of sweat running down my face as I panted. Blinking furiously, I made sure that I was safe and sound in my room, and there was no Mayor Hamilton next to me. Sighing in relief when I saw that everything was in its place, I flopped my head back down onto my pillow. What a nightmare.

But, as I tried to fall back asleep, I couldn't help but think if I was really running out of time.

**A/N: I know it was a random ending, but I didn't want to focus this whole story on Chase and Maya, and then Chase and Angela. I just wanted to show her insecurities about not finding a husband soon. Anyways! I hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you so, so much for reviewing. I'm so glad you all like this story, because I love writing it! Chase is so fun to play with… anyhow. Onto the chapter!**

Needless to say, that day started off… rather strange.

After the dream, I tried my hardest to sleep once again. It was only four in the morning, and I had just a few hours of sleep left before Chase and I would commence with 'Plan: Get Maya to Like Chase, Attempt #1', or 'Plan GMLC' for short. Squeezing my eyes shut tightly, I tried to think of anything else but Mayor Hamilton, puckering up his lips for a kiss at the alter. But for some reason, I couldn't get the image out of my head! I squirmed and tossed around the bed for two hours until my alarm clock went off.

"Today is going to _suck_." I said to myself as I slipped on a coat and some warm shoes. Stopping short of the door, I looked into the mirror I had just bought from the General Store.

No wonder I don't have a boyfriend. I had deep bags hanging under my eyes and a few smudges of something on my face. Whether it be dirt or some other unknown substance, it was very disgusting.

And then there was that strand of hair. My Goddess, I couldn't slick that thing down for the life of me. Not that I've tried in a very long time. Hastily, I grabbed the only hair product that I brought to Waffle Town. It was some sort of cheap, two-dollar hair styler that I've only touched once or twice. Boldly, I dipped a few fingers into the concoction and spread it onto the hair. Of course, with my luck, it looked about ten times worse than it did before. Sure, it wasn't sticking up as much, but it looks like I just put a slathering of honey onto my head and left it in there. One section of my hair was matted to my head; it was so awful it would make a hairdresser's blood curdle in her veins. Checking the clock, I noticed that it was already nine.

"Shit." I muttered to myself as I bolted out of the door. I might as well fix it later.

The air was chillier than usual, and my teeth chattered violently as if they had a mind of their own. I headed for the pathway towards the Sundae Inn, desperate to get this idiotic plan over with.

Pushing open the door, I spotted Chase at a table, waiting for me like he had yesterday. I sighed and plopped down, breathing in a large gulp of warm air before we talked strategy.

"What happened to your hair?" He asked, stifling a giggle. I glowered at him.

"I could ask you the same thing." I stated in all seriousness, pointing to his bobby pins. He frowned as I basked for a moment in my mini victory.

"Okay, so what's the game plan, chief?" I asked in a fake-serious voice.

"Chief, eh? Could that be my nickname?" He inquired, smiling to himself. I rolled my eyes.

"If you want. Now, let's get to business –"

"No, you need a nickname, too. How about… Agent 47?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyways, we need to set this up right." I commented, "What will you be making for lunch?"

Instantly, his face was leaked of all color, leaving it insipid. Bolting from the table, he ran towards the kitchen and grabbed a recipe book, leafing through it vigorously. I groaned to myself.

"You didn't even pick out a recipe yet?" I asked in exasperation.

"Ah-hah! Here, cheese risotto. It's pretty easy, and she likes cheese doesn't she?"

"Yeah, good plan. Now, do you have any idea what to say to her?"

Silence. Jeez, this guy was _difficult_.

"I guess I don't." He murmured as he sat back down at the table. For once in the very short time I've known him, he actually looked… vulnerable? Nah, it couldn't be.

"Whatever you do, don't insult her." I stated, but then thought about it. She would know that something was going on if he didn't utter a snide comment. "Okay, you can insult her a little. Just so she doesn't think anything fishy is going on."

He nodded, absorbing the information like a sponge. A peach-haired, snobby, little vulnerable sponge.

"Make sure you keep the conversation going. Trust me, awkward silences are the _worst_. I'm talking psychological torture and all that jazz. Like this one time, I was on a date and-"

"Please, spare me the story."

I practically growled at him before going on, "That's another thing. Don't interrupt her. She _hates _it. Be polite, assuming you know how…"

"Ouch, that hurt!" He claimed, clutching his heart as if I had shot him.

"Good." I replied.

"Anything else I need to know, Agent Snootypants?"

"Hey! That's not my nickname." I yelled, crossing my arms over my chest haughtily.

"It is now. Like I said, anything else?"

"No, not really. Except, don't be alarmed if you feel a rock being thrown at you. That just means you've said something stupid." I added with a fake grin. He stuck his tongue out at me.

"Just don't hit me too hard, okay?"

"You got it, chief."

"Thanks, Agent Snootypants."

Ignoring the fact that his nickname for me was completely moronic, I watched as he grabbed a table and pushed it closer to the window that I would be listening through.

"What're you doing?" I asked him, scratching the back of my head thoughtfully.

"Pushing the table closer to the window so that you don't miss. I don't want you hitting Maya in the face or something like that." He replied casually as he positioned the chairs.

"Are you saying I'm a bad aim?" I inquired accusingly. He laughed.

"Why, yes. Yes I am."

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips obnoxiously, just as I heard Maya casually strolling down the steps. Chase gave me a look of sheer panic as he bolted into the kitchen and shut the swinging door behind him. Maya didn't notice at all.

"Angela, hey! What're you doing here?" She asked me as she leaned on a table.

"Oh, you know… just hanging around." I replied as casually as I could while I leaned on the table. Thank the Goddess that she was kind of dense, or else she would have seen right through my fake façade.

"Cool. You need anything to eat or drink?"

"Nah. I'm fine."

From the kitchen, I saw Chase look over at me with a terrified look on his face. I gave him a small thumbs-up before turning back to Maya.

"So, um, how's it going?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Not too bad, just a little tired… I was a little upset last night and I was up practically all night." She replied in a soft tone, but I knew Chase heard it. His head whipped around as she spoke, but he quickly went back to cooking.

"Oh, really? What happened?" I asked, sitting down on a nearby chair. Turning her head around, she stared at Chase warily before looking back at me.

"Um, do you think we should talk about this right here? We should go upstairs." She suggested, pointing to the staircase. I shook my head.

"No, no, just tell me later then." I said very quickly, careful not to disturb any part of the plan.

"Okay, then. What have you been up to?"

Just working my ass off to get you and Chase, a guy I don't particularly care for, to start dating. No big deal.

"You know, this and that." I answered nervously. She nodded very slowly, giving me an odd look.

"Are you okay? You seem… fidgety."

"Me? What? Yes, of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" I replied all too quickly. Man, I was really bad at being subtle.

"If you say so." She said unhurriedly.

"So, um," I began, "Excited for the Starry Night Festival?"

"Of course I am! It's one of my favorites!" She exclaimed.

"Really? Who are you going with?" I asked curiously, staring at Chase from the corner of my eye and seeing that his shoulders had gone rigid.

"I have no idea. Last year I went with Luke, but it was just a friend thing. What about you?"

My eyes expanded as I remembered my awful dream last night. The image of Luke being spanked by the Harvest Goddess repeated itself in my mind over and over again as I winced.

"Angela?"

"Oh! Um, I don't think I'll participate this year." I said in all seriousness.

"Why not?"

"Everyone's already paired up, you know? I'm okay with it, though." I lied, feeling my face burn red. From behind her, Chase whirled around and widened his eyes at me. Mouthing the words 'Go', I turned to Maya and took a deep breath. Here comes the hard part.

"I have to go do farm-like things." I said absentmindedly before turning around on one heel and walking out of the Sundae Inn. As soon as I was outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. Disregarding that fact, I ran over to the window and carefully nestled myself into the bushes. I positioned myself so that I was more to the right side of the window instead of directly in front of it, that way Chase would see me clearly and Maya wouldn't see me at all. Finally comfortable in my position, I gazed through the window.

Through the _closed _window.

I practically screamed out in anger but restrained myself. I stared at Chase, coming out from the kitchen and saying something completely inaudible to her. She looked a bit confused but she nodded at his proposal and they sat down at the table just a foot or two away from the window. I growled to myself as I cursed him over and over again for forgetting to open the damn window. I wonder if there was some way I could get him to notice?

Searching the snowy ground beneath my feet, I found a pebble and I lightly chucked it against the window. _Tap_. They both looked over, and I immediately saw Chase's eyes widen as he realized the fatal flaw. Nervously uttering something to Maya, who looked very befuddled, he pushed open the window and whispered 'sorry' before sitting back down.

"This is very good." I heard Maya comment monotonously as her fork scraped against the plate.

"I know," Chase said arrogantly, "Uh, I mean, thank you?"

He was so hopeless.

"So…" He trailed off very awkwardly, leaving me almost embarrassed for witnessing this spectacle. No matter what situation you're in, you _never_ start a conversation with 'So…' The uncomfortable-o-meter was through the roof. "How is, uh, cooking and junk?"

"Great! You know, I made a spinach omelet the other day and it was actually good!" She said, suddenly enthusiastic. I saw Chase try to suppress a smirk.

"You don't say?"

"Yeah, and I didn't burn it or anything! I'm usually pretty prone to burning,"

"Really?"

"Yeah! But not this time. The spinach was kind of old, but I guess it didn't matter."

"Riveting."

Oh my God. Could he be any ruder right now? For the second time that day I was thankful for the fact that Maya was kind of oblivious. She just kept on going.

"It might not have been very good by your standards," She said bitterly, "But Luke seemed to like it."

The smug look was wiped right off of his face. I laughed to myself.

"Luke, huh?" He asked, "You gave it for him to try?"

"Mhmm! He even asked for seconds."

I could practically see the steam blowing out of Chase's ears. I didn't know him very well, but from the looks of it, he was the jealous type.

"Luke doesn't know much about cooking. It's obvious that his taste in food is juvenile." Chase uttered haughtily. Picking up another pebble, I threw it at his chest, careful not to use too much force. "Ow! Um, I mean… You should make one for me sometime. You know, just for an extra opinion."

I couldn't see Maya at the moment, but I could tell she was beaming goofily.

"Really? You want to try it?" She asked, and then paused. "But wait, I thought you didn't like my cooking, especially after that cake incident."

Chase looked at me with wide eyes. It was obvious that he had no idea to say. Pebble ready in my hand, I was prepared for the worst.

"Heh, no… I don't dislike your cooking; I just don't like it- Ow! I mean, I guess I could try the spinach omelet. After all, if Luke isn't dead by now, I certainly won't- Ow! OW!"

By the silence in the air, I could tell Maya was very lost.

"Why do you keep saying 'Ow?'" She asked slowly.

"This cheese risotto, it's very hot." He answered quickly. Boy, this was tougher than I thought. When he said he was awful with girls, I figured he meant he was shy. But I was very wrong. He had a bad case of word vomit, and it was actually quite comical to watch.

"Yes, I suppose so." She replied, "Well, how is Waffle Town treating you?"

"Not too bad. I'm just getting used to things, you know." He replied rather quietly.

"Must be hard. You know, after… everything." She said with a thick voice. Chase flinched. He quickly glanced at me, but I couldn't read his expression at all.

"Uh huh." He grunted. The two sat in silence for a few moments, but for some reason, it wasn't very uncomfortable. But I couldn't help but wonder what in the world they were talking about. What did she mean by that statement? I wanted to find out, but at the same time I felt like I shouldn't ask in the near future.

"I have to go to the restroom, I'll be right back."

I heard Maya's chair scoot out and then footsteps as she walked away from the table. As soon as we heard a door shut, Chase turned to me frantically.

"Plan GMLC is an official failure." He whispered sharply through the window. I sighed.

"No, it's not a failure… Well actually, it kind of is." I said, "You need to think before you talk sometimes!"

"Come inside. I can't do this anymore." He whined like a baby, motioning with his hand. I groaned.

"Fine."

Angrily, I stomped into the Sundae Inn just as Maya came out of the restroom.

"Hi Angela!" She exclaimed, clearly relieved that I returned.

"Hi," I waved meekly as Chase stood and collected the dishes to wash. Maya looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Um, back so soon?" She asked.

"Yeah, there wasn't much to do around the farm. You know, with no crops and all." I commented.

"I have to talk to you," She muttered as soon as Chase turned on the sink, "Like, now."

I nodded and followed her upstairs before catching a quick glance at the pathetic guy. Holding my finger up, I signaled that I would be gone for a second and then continued to climb the stairs to Maya's room. As soon as we entered, she flopped onto the bed.

"Okay, so when you were gone, Chase offered me _lunch_."

"What? Really?" I asked, trying my best to sound surprised.

"Yeah, and it was totally weird!" She responded, turning red as she talked, "He offered me some cheese risotto and he asked me about cooking and stuff, but he was being really odd. I don't know exactly how to explain it… but I didn't like it."

"He wasn't nice or anything?"

"Well, that's just the thing. He wasn't nice, but he wasn't mean, either. Or at least, not that mean. I don't know, Angela! I was just so uncomfortable!"

I wrung my hands together, contemplating how I would tell Chase all of this without sounding too harsh.

"Well, anyways. I need a nap right about now. I barely got any sleep and it's definitely coming back to bite me in the butt."

"Okay, sleep well!" I said as I left the room and headed back down the stairs. Chase was standing there expectantly, his hands shoved into his stained apron pockets.

"What'd she say?" He asked quietly as we sat down at the table. I sighed.

"She said that it was just really weird, that's all." I replied, not wanting to disclose the fact that she said she didn't like it.

"That's it?"

"Yep, that's it." I replied, not daring to look him in the eye. He would probably catch my lie in a second. As annoying as he was, he was oddly intuitive when it came to those sorts of things.

"Huh. Well, that got me absolutely nowhere…" He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. I nodded in silent agreement. "But I want to try again."

"What?" I asked in disbelief. After that total and complete _disaster_, he wanted to try again? If I were him, I would have crawled into a hole by now.

"I…" He began "I want to tell her. I mean, I want you to tell her. If things keep going like this, then I will probably go crazy."

"You mean you haven't already?"

"Shut up! Anyways, can you do that? Maybe if she knows I fancy her, she'll agree to go on a date. A real date…"

I frowned for a moment. What were we, twelve? I haven't been the messenger since the 7th grade. But then I noticed that this was probably all new to Chase. I don't even think he's ever been on a date before, and I can see why. His first impression isn't exactly the best. Neither is his second impression, or third.

… Or fourth, for that matter. Let's face it, he was a jerk. Well, most of the time at least.

"What's the magic word?" I mumbled.

"Plllleeeaaassseeee?" He asked, grinning widely at me as he batted his eyelashes.

"Well, I've come this far… fine."

"Okay, great!"

And thus began Plan: Get Maya to Like Chase Attempt #2. Why did I have a feeling that this plan was going to be much worse than the last?

**A/N: Phew! I knew this chapter was going to be a little harder to write because it's mostly dialogue (I must admit, I am a detail whore). But I'm just glad I got this scene over with. Now, on to my next maniacal plan… heheh. Let me know what you thought!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yay, new chapter. And it's long, too! Thanks for all the reviews, you all have really good feedback and ideas. Enjoy this chapter!**

I was about ready to rip my hair out. Glancing at the clock, I realized that it was already one thirty in the morning, and I was still with the vulnerable little sponge.

After the 'date', Chase and I spoke about what we were going to do next. He wanted me to tell Maya about his feelings, and then ask him out for her. Talk about juvenile. But I wasn't blaming Chase. After all, my predictions had been true. He had never had a girlfriend, yet alone been on a date. So I agreed to walk him through _this one_, but then he would be off the training wheels for everything else. After we spoke about the plan, I left for a few hours to see if I could rake in some money. Surprise, surprise, when I come back at eight, Chase is waiting for me.

"What do I say to her?" He asked exasperatedly as he ran his thin fingers through his hair. He looked as if he had been thinking about this question for hours. I sighed and plopped down on a chair. I felt like I was taking care of a child who had his first crush. After about an hour of trying to explain the do's and dont's of date conversation, we had gotten no where.

"Okay, listen. Pretend that I'm Maya, and I'll stop you every time you say something bad, got it?" I said while motioning for him to stand up with me. He nodded eagerly and stood facing me, just a foot or two away.

"That's, um… that's a very nice… dress?" He choked out, frowning a little as he did so.

"Wrong, wrong. You have to be confident about this! Don't say 'Uh, I guess I like your dress. Kind of.' Or else she won't buy it."

He sighed heavily and shoved his hands into his pockets. This was obviously a very tough subject to master.

"That dress looks beautiful on you." He commented, although it almost looked like he was in pain as he said it. I winced.

"Nope, wrong. You sound like someone's stabbing you in the leg while you're talking to me. I'm Maya, not Angela! Say it like you mean it!" I yelled, shaking his shoulders. He laughed a little.

"Um, all right." He began, taking a huge breath. "You look very beautiful today…"

This time, I grinned. At least he didn't sound like he was being forced against his will to compliment her. Hell, he even sounded kind of sincere. The key word being 'kind of'.

"Great! Now, the conversation can't be just compliments. Say something else to me."

"How was your day?" He asked casually. I shook my head.

"Wrong again! Don't ask how she is/how her day was/how her life is going, because every girl will answer 'Fine, yours?' Trust me. You want to get to know her, right? Ask her something more personal."

He thought for a second, scratching the side of his head like a monkey would. He definitely had a funny way of showing his thought process. Slowly, his face went from frustrated, to confused, to content, and back to frustrated again.

"Okay, um. What's your favorite kind of music?" He asked. I smiled and nodded in approval.

"I like almost everything! But mostly I listen to country music, he-he!" I said in a mock Maya voice. Chase stifled a giggle, but couldn't hold it any longer. He busted out laughing as he doubled over.

"What was that?" He asked between gasps. I couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Just my Maya voice. What, does it need more work?"

"Desperately!" He exclaimed, wiping a tear from his cheek. I sighed. This was only the beginning of our long, 'fun-filled' night. He literally asked every single question there was to ask about what to say and what not to say. Not to mention what to wear, how to be polite, and what were appropriate questions to ask.

And so, here we were at almost two in the morning, still discussing. I had tried leaving at least four times before, but he kept coming up with new dilemmas and new schemes. This was more exhausting than farm work.

"The basic thing you need to remember is flattery." I reminded him for the eightieth time that night. He nodded sleepily. "Now, can I go?"

"Wait, wait." He said, holding up a wobbly finger, "What if I say something stupid? Will you be there to throw something at me?"

What was he, delirious? His slurring was becoming incoherent.

"No, not this time." I muttered, feeling my eyes droop drastically. He pouted, sticking out his lower lip and making it tremble.

"But I know I'll say something wrong. I just know it!" He shouted suddenly, making me jump a little. His pointless rambling was beginning to get to me. "I'm _soooo_ bad with girls. Like seriously. You sh-should, you should see me."

"I have seen you." I muttered under my breath as I rested my head on the table.

"Wake up!" His voice was shrill this time, "I can make coffee. Do you want coffee? Because I want coffee. Real bad."

Slap-happiness mixed with jitters was a very comical combination. But I was just too tired to stick around for the hilarious scene.

"No, Chase. I have to leave, I have responsibilities, you know." I hummed, barely even able to hear my own voice because of all the slurring. He slammed his hands on the table.

"Fine!"

With that, I was out the door in seconds. I was desperate to get away from any more conversations involving Chase, Maya, Chase and Maya together, or any sort of relationship at all. By now, I was sick of love, even if it wasn't between a guy and me.

I made it home in one piece (thankfully. I was pretty sure I would pass out on the side of the road and be picked to death by wild animals) and flopped onto the bed. Within seconds, I was out cold.

I awoke to a shrill knocking on the door. I rubbed my eyes tentatively and immediately I knew who it was. Or at least, I thought I knew. Opening the door, I was expecting to see an equally tired Chase coming to ask me more questions, but it was far from that.

"Toby?" I asked in a very groggy tone. He smiled sanguinely at me with a fish in his hand.

"I, um, I caught you some fish for breakfast this morning. Unless you already ate… then I would just be a little embarrassed, heh." He greeted me, scratching the back of his head in unease.

Sa-_wooooon_.

"Thanks so much," My voice cracked as I replied, "Do you want to share it with me?"

He was as surprised as I was at my boldness. Blushing profusely, he nodded and stepped inside.

"Make yourself at home," I commented as I rummaged through the fridge for an herb. Popping the fish and the herb into the oven, I sat down with Toby and suddenly felt myself in the same position I had imagined Chase was in. Tapping my fingers on the table idly, I yawned.

"Tired?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. I, uh, couldn't sleep." I told him. Technically, that wasn't a lie. Chase had kept me up last night, but I didn't want to say that for the risk of sounding like something was going on between us.

"So, what kind of fish did you bring?" I asked out of the blue, just trying to keep the conversation going.

"Masu Trout, I caught it right around the waterfall." He replied, "Caramel Falls is very beautiful in the early morning."

"Really? I've always been so busy with crops or animals that I haven't gone there at this time of day." I stated, wrapping a loose strand of hair around my finger and unraveling it again.

"Do you want to, um, go? Now? I'm sure that herb fish will take at least forty minutes to cook." He suggested. I felt my heart swell uncomfortably as he said this. Now I knew how Chase felt.

"I'd really like that." I said in all honesty. We both stood and left the house in silence, enjoying the crisp morning air.

"It's pretty cold, but… somehow, you tend to forget about that when you see all this calm scenery." He commented, almost as if he was talking to himself. I nodded in agreement. "Sometimes, you just have to put your work on hold and look at what's around you."

Damn. This guy was _deep_. That, or I just wasn't used to being around guys like him.

"That's so true." I replied as my breath appeared in front of me. I rubbed my hands together quickly to heat them up as we passed by the river.

"Are you cold?" He asked timidly. I shook my head.

"No, no, I'm fine." I lied for the second time that day. But he wasn't buying it this time.

"You sure? Here," He said as he shed off his light coat, "I'm not cold, you can wear this."

He draped it around my shoulders and instantly the warmth from his body traveled to mine. I could have melted right on the spot.

"Thank you," I replied almost inaudibly.

"It's not a big deal. I'm outside so much that I barely notice the weather changing." He commented as we neared the falls. Maybe I had been wrong about Toby? He did talk about fish a lot, but that wasn't the only thing he ever conversed about.

"Wow. This is so nice." He whispered, tilting his head up to look at the falls. The light was shining through the rushing water in a way that almost illuminated it. He was right, it looked absolutely breathtaking at this time of day. The rushing water spewed from the top of the rocks as a light river spray covered our faces. I smiled.

"This is the perfect spot to catch fish," He commented, slowly reverting back to his old self. The one who talked about fish, smelled like fish, and if looked at in the right lighting, looked like a fish. I sighed.

"Would you like to go back? I don't want the breakfast to burn." I said plainly as I turned around. He nodded and we slowly but surely walked back home.

"So I was wondering," He began as we neared the house, "If you… um, ah. This is hard for me to say. I'm not very good at this sort of thing, heh. I was just wondering if you'd like to go to the Starry Night Festival with me. I know it's in a while and all, and this is kind of out of the blue…"

"I'd love to." I cut him off. He grinned widely.

"Really? Wow, great!" He exclaimed as if he was a child who just received a new toy. The problem was: I wasn't very sure about it. I mean, Toby was a very nice guy. Cute, too. But there was something about him that I couldn't quite understand. Mostly his creepy, almost fetish-like adoration for fish. But there was something else that I couldn't exactly pinpoint.

Like I have mentioned, I'm picky with guys. And for some reason, I wasn't sure commitment was a priority for someone like Toby. He was a free spirit, roaming about wherever he pleased and being generally calm and collected in every situation.

_Ah-hah!_

That was it. He was almost _too _calm, and _too _collected. I thrived on chaos, disagreements, and general unpredictability. I pegged Toby as the type who agreed with anyone to avoid confrontation, and I didn't understand that. Groaning inwardly, I scolded myself. Why was I worrying about it, anyways? All he did was ask me to the Starry Night Festival. It's not like we're all of the sudden committed to marriage, or something.

Almost suddenly, my future seemed to flash before my eyes… A house smelling of fish, fish every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, children named Rock Lobster and Goby… I shivered uncomfortably.

We ate the breakfast quickly and he left for On The Hook, kissing my cheek before he exited my house. It left me feeling lightheaded and warm, but still uneasy. Sighing, I shoved these thoughts out of my head and focused on the actual matter at hand: telling Maya about Chase. Boy, how pathetic was my life that I was practically revolving it around these two?

Ignoring that fact, I headed over to the Inn at around ten. As soon as I walked into the door, Maya was standing there like she had been waiting for me.

"Angela! Come with me." She said almost urgently, yanking my arm up the stairs. What was her deal? As soon as we arrived in her room, we plopped down onto the bed.

"What happened?" I asked her. She opened her mouth but closed it again, trying to think of the correct words.

"I don't know what's happening with that boy…" She muttered to herself. I frowned and motioned with my hands for her to go on.

"Chase is just being so weird this morning! Like, I came downstairs and he looked _awful._ I'm talking bloodshot eyes, messy hair, pale… and then when my parents leave the room, he randomly comes up to me and asks me what my favorite kind of music is. I was so confused! So I say 'Country…?' and he just starts cracking up. Out of the blue, doubling over onto the floor. Angela… I think he's on drugs."

Now it's my turn to start cracking up. Of course this would happen! Chase was such an idiot.

"You… think he's… on drugs?" I say as I'm clutching my sides. She looks dead serious, so I stop giggling.

"Yes, I honestly think that."

"Maya, he's not on drugs. He _likes _you." I say out of the blue. Her jaw dropped and she looked as if I just told her that she was the best cook in the world.

"Are you serious?" She asks very slowly, "But he hates me! He makes fun of me and he hates my cooking and…"

"He's just a little… inexperienced?"

She laughed a little, but she still looked completely stupefied. I tried to read her expression, but it was very hard. She didn't look happy, but she didn't exactly look mad, either.

"Do you like him back?" I asked, trying to pry some info from her.

"Honestly, I don't really know."

I made a humming noise and scratched my chin. This wasn't exactly the reaction I had expected, but I was willing to improvise.

"Well, he wanted to go on a date," I commented, "Today."

Immediately, her face drained of all color.

"Um, what? Today?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, trying to sound enthusiastic about it all, "Let's go downstairs, I'm sure he'll be waiting for you."

"Are you sure…? I feel like I'm on a reality show and some guy with a curly mustache is going to pop up out of no where and point out the hidden cameras."

"… Huh?"

"Never mind. Fine, let's go downstairs, then."

Now it was my turn to yank her arm out of her room and down the stairs where Chase was waiting. Wow, she was so right. He did look like he was a little 'out of it'.

"I have to go, have fun!" I said evilly, leaving the two alone at the Inn. This time, I wouldn't be listening in. I just had to wait.

As soon as I got outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. The tension in that Inn was enough to destroy a small village. I was glad I was out of there. Now, I could just go about my normal routine and stay tuned for the results. That wouldn't be too hard, would it?

I was so wrong. At first, I attempted to cut down a few trees in the Prailine Forest for some lumber to upgrade my house, but I tired out on the spot. Let's face it; I wasn't the most muscular girl in Waffle Town. So, being exhausted and completely drained, what could I do to spend the day? Truthfully, I didn't even have a normal routine anymore because I have been spending so much time on this matchmaking thing. How pathetic! My life revolved around a real-life soap opera and now that I couldn't see what was happening, I had nothing to do.

Grumbling to myself, I visited the Tailoring Shop. I was in need of new winter clothing, anyways. The sweater I had on had strings poking out of it and awful stitching that I had (regretfully) sewn myself. And for some reason, while I was making this hideous creation, I decided to stitch in a picture of a cat on the front. Was I drunk when I made this sweater, or something?

"Hello, Angela!" Shelly, the owner of the shop, greeted me. I waved as I browsed through the many new designs they had just received from Julius himself. Of course. While I searched through the racks of long-sleeved sweaters, I couldn't help but notice Julius and Candace in the back room talking quietly. I decided to ignore them. After all, I didn't need any more reminders of the fact that I was doomed to be single for my whole life.

"Yes! She said yes!" I heard Julius shout from the back room. Instantly, every customer at the Tailoring Shop whipped their heads around to stare at the scene. Julius was grasping onto Candace's hand, while her other hand held the blue feather. She was blushing profusely.

"Aww…" Everyone in the store murmured as they clapped lightly at the scene. I joined in halfheartedly before bolting out of the door. I was sick of this relationship thing! Was everyone in this village out to make me feel like crap?

With that, I headed home to spend the next few hours in solace, just me and my cat sweater. Barf. I slumped down onto a chair and flipped on the TV. I glanced at the wall clock, seeing that it was only noon. Only five more hours to go!

"Hello, and welcome to Waffle Town News! I'm Elli, your reporter. Well, folks, the Winter season is upon us and the snow is falling pretty hard this year. Don't get discouraged, though! The Starry Night Festival is coming soon. Take a break and watch the stars with friends or loved ones!"

She then began to babble about how her 'beau' from Flowerbud Village, Jeff, was coming down to visit just for this occasion. Even _Elli _has a significant other. Damn. I watched the rest of the hour-long news, which then turned in to Kingdom of Wildlife, and then the weather before I began to doze off.

_Next on the Waffle Town Television Broadcast is a new show called 'Cookin' Up Some Love'! And now, here's your host… Allison!_

_A crowd from off screen cheered and clapped as a girl, who looked surprisingly like me, walked on to the stage. Same brown hair, same face… Heck, she was even wearing a cat sweater. But she looked much older than me._

_"Hello Waffle Town! I would like to introduce you to our guests tonight, Maya and Chase! Come on out here, you two!"_

_Again, the crowd went wild as Chase and Maya came on to the stage, blushing a little._

_"Have a seat, have a seat!" She beckoned to the couch where the three of them sat down, "Now, tell me this. How did you two meet?"_

_"Well," Maya began, smiling shyly, "We work at the Sundae Inn together, and I guess it just kind of happened!"_

_"Really, now? How sweet. Now, Chase, you're looking awfully happy. What's on your mind?"_

_Chase smiled very, very widely as he looked at the host._

_"Well, Allison, I'm in love." He said, grabbing a hold of Allison's shoulders and shaking her as the crowd cheered fervently. He then stood up and pumped his fist in the air while the audience screamed even louder._

_"We've never seen you this way before!" Allison exclaimed as Chase kept doing weird, almost frightening fist pumps and victory dances._

_"I'm never felt this way before, Allison!" He replied, jumping onto the couch while the crowd went absolutely berserk. Maya smiled as he continued to do weird hand jives. Finally, he sat back down onto the couch and calmed down._

_"That was quite the display, Chase! Now, do you two have plans for the future?"_

_"Yes, actually," Chase spoke up, his face turning a bit red as Maya stared at him confusedly. He kneeled down and pulled a blue feather out from behind his back, "Will you marry me?"_

_Maya gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. She was nearly in tears._

_"Of course!" She cried, wrapping him into a large hug._

_"Oh, would you look at that!" Allison exclaimed, "Aren't they adorable? Young love… ain't it the greatest? What do you say, audience?"_

_The audience cheered and 'aww'ed and clapped as the two lovebirds left the stage hand in hand. Allison smiled warmly._

_"Wasn't that just pleasant? Now… who's ready for… Allison's Favorite Things! Who wants a new color screen TV?"_

Shaking my head furiously, I opened my eyes and stared blankly at the TV. The weather forecast was still going, and I realized that it was all a very strange dream. Shrugging, I yawned and stretched my arms high above my head before staring at the clock. It was 4:30.

"Perfect," I said to myself as I slipped outside into the cold and headed for the Inn. Trying to shake off the images of Chase jumping up and down on the couch while pumping his fist into the air, I passed the 'Welcome to Waffle Town' sign and was about to open the door to the Inn. Then I realized that Chase was already outside, walking in a separate direction.

"Oh, as long as you love me so… Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!" He sang. What was up with him and Winter carols? Anyways.

"Chase!" I called. He whirled around and smiled a genuine smile before advancing towards me.

"Hey, I was about to come looking for you." He replied.

"How was it?" I asked eagerly. By the way he was acting and looking, I assumed well.

"It was awesome. I had fun! And I think she did, too. I asked her to the Starry Night Festival, and she said yes! That's a good sign, right? I think she likes me… at least, I hope she does." He babbled, still apparently in his own world. I grinned.

"Good to hear. Do you want me to talk to her? I can get her perspective, if you want."

"Yeah! Good idea. I think she's in her room. I'll be out here!" He said, motioning with his hands. With that, I pushed the door open the to the Inn and ran upstairs to find Maya in her room.

"Hey! How was it?" I asked her. She didn't have exactly the same expression as Chase, but I figured she must have had a good time if she said yes to the Starry Night Festival.

"It was nice," She replied plainly. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"Just nice? Or was it fun? Do you like him?" I asked frantically. Maya tended to be very vague about these sorts of things.

"It was…nice, Angela. I don't know how else to explain it." She mumbled. Again, I was confused.

"So… you don't like him?" I asked, feeling my stomach completely drop. He would be absolutely crushed.

"I… I can't say I do." She said very quietly, "And I'm not sure why."

"You said yes to the Starry Night Festival, though. What was that all about?" I asked almost menacingly, but I caught myself. Why was I mad at her? I was only doing this for her own good, not to protect that creep.

"I couldn't say no, he looked so happy about it!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, and how happy is he going to be when he finds out you don't even want to go with him! Maya, he thinks you like him. He thinks you had a really good time."

"I did have a good time. But, after that day at the Harvest Festival, and after that weird lunch thing that happened yesterday… there's just nothing there. I don't even know why, either. Today was good, but I just can't think of him in that way anymore."

I clenched my fists together, but then stopped. After all, it wasn't her fault that she couldn't bring herself to like him. But now the real problem was: how was I going to tell him?

**A/N: Sorry for the semi-abrupt ending and the overall messiness of this chapter. I hope you liked it regardless! Oh, and the whole dream sequence is totally ripped from the Tom Cruise on Oprah's show, if you couldn't tell. Just thought it'd be a little funny to add in. Anyways, tell me what you thought!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you everyone who regularly reviews this story. This chapter gets a little more 'emotional' at the end! Just a warning ;p. Now, enjoy!**

Standing before the Sundae Inn door, I breathed in and out uneasily. I had gone over exactly how I was going to break it to Chase at least ten times in my head, but for some reason I couldn't go outside. _You can do it, Angela_, I told myself, _this guy has been a jerk for the whole time you've known him. If anything, this was pay back, right?_

Nodding to myself, I pushed open the door and immediately was greeted by Chase.

"You know," He began, picking up the conversation where we left it as if I had never gone, "I really have a good feeling about this. This is like, surreal."

Oh Goddess, I can't do this.

"Heh, yeah." I replied very nervously.

"What'd she say?" He asked me. I paused as I stared at him and noticed something… different? Overall appearance was the same, but for once, his lip wasn't curled downwards in a sneer. And his eyebrows weren't knit together in a frown. He was… happy?

"Er, you know, basically the same things you did." I improvised. My god, I was such a bad person. First of all, it was practically my fault that this whole web of lies had been created. And now I was just making it ten times worse by keeping his hopes up. What is wrong with me?

"That's great," He replied happily. I sighed. How in the world was I going to tell Maya about this little mishap? I quickly said my goodbyes to the 'new and improved' Chase, which frankly, I didn't like too much. Not that I didn't want to see him happy, but… he just wasn't the same. It gave me an odd, prickly feeling.

Deciding that I should just suck it up and tell Maya, I ran right back into the Inn and up the stairs. Maya was in her room, humming to herself as she braided her hair. Another thing that puzzled me about Maya: how the hell did she keep her hair afloat like that? Those braids defied gravity, I swear.

"Hey…" I said awkwardly as I entered her room. She turned around and gave me a lopsided grin.

"How'd it go?"

"… Um, not so well."

Her face fell immediately.

"Oh, gosh, I knew he would take it the wrong way. I feel so bad!" She exclaimed, pressing her cheeks together with her hands and shaking her head. I sighed.

"That's not exactly what happened." I said quietly. She stopped pouting and looked up at me, "I… I couldn't tell him, Maya. He's so happy."

In an instant, she grew from guilty to angry. Clenching her fists at her sides, she huffed out her chest.

"_What do you mean?_" She bellowed. I took a few steps backwards and held up my hands. Damn, she was scary when she was angry.

"I'm sorry! I just couldn't do it. He was like, actually _smiling _for the first time in his life. And singing! And saying things like 'I have a really good feeling about this'. Chase never has good feelings about anything!" I defended myself like crazy. She just sat there, her clenched fists on her hips, with an unamused look on her face.

"So what am I supposed to do, marry this guy because he's happy? I'm not doing that, Angela!"

"But what were you going to do when the Starry Night Festival came around?" I asked accusingly. She paused for a moment, scratching her chin.

"… I hadn't thought about that, actually."

Feeling triumphant, I crossed my arms over my chest and grinned to myself.

"Okay, fine. You win. I will go with him to the Starry Night Festival, but then one of us will have to break it to him, all right?"

"But are you sure that's a good idea? Waiting 'til the Festival, having a good time, and then breaking his heart?" I asked.

"Make up your mind! Either I do it now, or I do it later. Either way, I'm doing it!"

I frowned. This was tough, having his happiness in my hands to play with. How sadistic.

"Ugh. Do it later, then." I replied rather angrily. I couldn't deal with this right now. So much planning and so much sneaking around was really making me cranky and exhausted almost 24/7. "I'm going to go home and sleep. See you later."

With that, I headed for Caramel River District, looking forward to sleeping for a very, very long time. Of course, fate didn't want me to get off that easy. As I neared the fork by the Inn, I noticed Chase and Toby talking to each other. They were rather far away, and maybe they hadn't seen me. Sneakily, I tried my best to tiptoe towards Caramel River District, but I failed miserably. Let's just say I've never been the most graceful person.

I stepped onto one toe and immediately fell over. Luckily, I caught myself on my other foot in the nick of time, but of course, that drew the attention towards me.

"Angela, hey!" Toby called to me, waving me over. I fake smiled and walked towards them as slowly as possible. Chase was grinning. I still wasn't used to it.

"Toby and I were just talking about you," He mentioned.

"Since when did you become social?" I asked almost accusingly. He frowned a little, crossing his arms.

"Does it matter? Anyways, I heard Toby asked you to the Starry Night Festival." He stated, reminding me. I mentally smacked myself for forgetting.

"Yeah, and?" I asked, eager to get home.

"Well," Toby spoke up, "Do you want to go with Chase and Maya, too?"

Of course this would happen. Why was the Harvest Goddess being a menacing little sadist and making me _suffer like this_!? If it was about that stupid spanking dream-

"Angela?" Toby asked, blinking perplexedly at me. At least, I think he was blinking… it was very hard to tell.

"Sorry. Um, sure, that sounds great." I squeaked out. They both smiled. "I have to go now. See you later!"

Neglecting to wait for a response, I bolted towards my house. No more interruptions, no more worries… just my large fluffy bed and me.

The next few days were brutal on my conscience. Every day, I had to endure Chase's whistling, humming, singing, or any other variation of tunes made by the mouth. And all I kept thinking about was how upset he would be when he found out the truth. Most days I just wanted to crawl under a hole and stay there for the Winter, but I had to face this sooner or later.

Eventually, the day of the festival was upon us. I woke up that morning with a headache and a sour mood. Nothing was going to make this day good.

Every corner I turned, I saw a couple. Whether old or young, they were _everywhere_. Hell, I think even my farm animals were hooking up. My cow, Teddy, and my sheep, Lucy, were definitely getting a little too close. Won't be long until I have a … shecow. GROSS. I even had a small note in the mail from Candace and Julius, asking me to attend their wedding in a few days. The note was adorned with purple flowers and red hearts everywhere, and the handwriting was sickeningly curly. Oh, I would be _so _excited to go to that wedding.

A few minutes later, I sauntered by the Inn, poking my head through the door to see if Maya was anywhere in sight.

"Nah, she's out," Jake said nonchalantly as he polished a glass in his hand, "Check back in a few."

Out? Since when did Maya go _out_? Shrugging, I decided to go towards the Waffle Square and see if I could find Chase. But the only person I could find there was Gill, who flinched and walked quickly into the Town Hall. He was probably scared that I would threaten to harm him again. Pansy.

Sighing, I decided to just walk around town until I spotted one of them. Much to my dismay, I ran into someone else.

"Oh, hello Angela. Excited for tonight?" It was Toby. His fishing pole hung carelessly in his hands, like always.

"Yeah, very." I replied as enthusiastically as possible.

"Cool! We'll meet at Alan's tree?"

"Sure thing."

And with that, we said goodbye and kept going. Poor Toby. If only he could read my thoughts.

I walked around aimlessly for hours until I found myself in front of the Church, completely oblivious to why I came here. That's when I saw her.

"Maya, what are you doing here?" I asked. She was sitting on the ground on the shaded side of the church, semi-covered in bushes and a tree. She didn't say anything.

"Maya?" I asked again, actually worried for her well-being. She shuffled her legs for a moment, causing me to creep closer towards her. "Hello?"

"Shh." She muttered quietly. Looking around, I tried to see if there was anyone, or anything that she was hiding from. But there was nothing but a tiny bunny rabbit.

"What in the world are you doing?" I asked loudly, crouching down by her side.

"I'm hiding," She said secretly, "So be quiet, will ya?"

"… Hiding from who?"

"Chase. He's been looking for me all day, and I just can't face him right now. I can't!" She cried dramatically, burying her face in her hands. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, come on!" I yelled, "What's the worst he can do?" I asked, but stopped myself. Chase was capable of a lot of bad things, especially when angry. "Well, you're going to see him tonight anyways. Might as well face your fear. We only have an hour left."

"What do you mean 'we'?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm going with Toby, and we're coming with you two. Thank me later." I said, pulling her out of the bushes. She sighed and brushed off her dress.

"Since when were you going with Toby?" She inquired as we began walking down the hill towards the Maple Lake District.

"Yesterday." I answered.

"Awesome! He's sooo cute. You're totally lucky!" She said happily, clapping her hands together. Sometimes I wondered how she could go from one mood to the next in literally a second, but I disregarded that thought.

"He _is _cute. But he's… I don't know, not really my type."

"Angela, I'm pretty sure you're not in the best position to be deciding who's your type and who isn't. Things are finally happening around here! Everyone's getting together and getting married, you know." She stated matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes. She thinks I don't know that?

"Yeah, yeah. Let's start heading towards Alan's Tree, shall we?" I invited, gesturing with my hands. She nodded. As we walked, my nerves grew rapidly by the second, and soon I was pretty sure they were going to burst out. In the form of vomit. Nasty.

The boys were waiting at the tree just as the sun began to go down. Chase was leaning against the tree with his hands shoved into his pockets. For once, he wasn't wearing his apron, but a clean, crisp white button-down tee shirt and a pair of black pants. Toby was also dressed rather nicely. He wasn't even carrying his fishing pole, and his hat wasn't slung over his shoulders like always.

"Hello!" Maya greeted them enthusiastically. Boy, if she was nervous, she sure didn't show it. Chase smiled genuinely (I still wasn't used to it) and Toby murmured a quiet 'hello' before we sat down on the hill to get a good view of the stars. _Psh_, I thought, _like any of us are actually thinking about the stars right now_.

"I brought dinner," Chase commented, picking up a picnic basket and opening it. Grilled salmon with a touch of lemon. Of course he made fish. Well, if I was going to be eating it for the rest of my life, I might as well get used to it now.

"Wow, this is so good!" Toby exclaimed as he shoveled the fish into his mouth. I nodded in agreement and so did Maya.

"Good job, Chase." She said quietly, finishing hers off. He instantly lit up at her compliment. My heart ached uneasily.

"Hey, guys! Want to hear a joke?" Toby exclaimed. We all nodded slowly. "Okay. What do you call a fish with no eye?"

The three of us stared at him blankly as he grinned goofily, waiting for us to answer.

"I don't know, what?" I asked finally.

"A 'fshhh'!" He replied loudly, laughing at his own ridiculous joke. "Get it? A fish with no letter 'i'?"

Chase and I laughed politely, but on the inside I was dying.

"Ha-ha! That was a good one!" Maya exclaimed, actually amused by the joke. Goddess help her poor soul.

After a few moments, the sun had gone completely down and the stars were beginning to show themselves. Quietly, we all looked upward and smiled to ourselves. For a millisecond, I didn't concentrate on the fact that Maya was going to break Chase's heart. Or the fact that I was doomed to be with 'fshhh' guy for the rest of my life.

"Look, the big dipper!" Chase said happily.

"The what?" Maya asked. He just shook his head and kept looking at the sky. All the while, I felt Toby scooting closer and closer towards me until he was centimeters away from me. His hand felt for mine and I gulped almost audibly but just kept staring upwards. Next to me, I saw Chase getting closer to Maya as well, who seemed to be unnoticeably scooting away from him.

"There are so many more stars when you're far from the city," Toby commented, "just a few steps away, even."

We all nodded in agreement. For a while, we sat on the grass and gazed at the pitch-black sky, illuminated by so many tiny dots that they practically lit up the field. It was amazing, but my mind just couldn't concentrate on the beauty. It was more concentrated on my hand in Toby's, and what was going to happen after all of this was over. Finally, Chase looked around at the rest of us and sighed.

"Do you guys want to go? It's about ten," He stated, checking his wristwatch. We all nodded in agreement before slowly getting up, still watching the heavens. When I finally tore my glance away from the sky, Maya was looking at me. I knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Walk me home?" I asked Toby hurriedly, grabbing a hold of his arm. Even in the dark, I could see his cheeks glow pink.

"Sure. We'll see you two later," He called to them before we walked down the hill. The whole way home, I couldn't listen to a word he was saying. Something about the cosmos and the earth, and how they affect us and yada yada, blah blah blah. Not that it wasn't important, but I just couldn't concentrate at a time like this! Was Maya breaking the news to him right this moment? I could practically see the smile on his face melting into a frown.

"Well, here we are." Toby said finally as we approached my house. I exhaled heavily and turned to him, giving him a fake smile.

"I had a good time. Thanks a lot," I told him absentmindedly. He nodded.

"Me too. I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure."

With that, he closed his eyes (I think?) and leaned in very slowly to give me a kiss. Oh god, he looked like a fish when he puckered his lips out like that! He neared closer to me inch by inch and I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate. Finally, his fishy lips touched mine, and then pulled away. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Goodbye, then." He called, heading off towards his home. I pushed the door open to my house and slammed the door behind me, basking in the warmth of my house before peeling off my sweater and throwing it into my closet. What a day.

Sitting on my bed, I slipped my winter shoes off and placed them by the door before changing into my pajamas. All I wanted to do at the moment was lay down and thaw while watching one of my favorite shows, 'Mastery of Beauty'. But as I pulled my nightgown over my head, there was a knock at the door.

Who would be coming over at this time? Probably Maya, coming to complain about how sad Chase looked and that she regrets it all. Psh, yeah right.

"Um, who is it?" I asked, feeling awkward that whoever was behind that door was going to see me in my nightgown. But when no voice came, I became a little panicked. What if it was a killer? I had no locks on my doors; I could be a goner in two seconds!

"Oh god, oh god, oh god." I whispered to myself, pacing quickly around the room.

"… It's Chase." Came a very muffled voice. I sighed with a sense of relief, but then was overcome by awkwardness again. Quickly rifling through my closet, I pulled out a robe and slipped it over my silk nightgown.

"Er, come in." I called. The doorknob turned and he slowly came in, looking absolutely lifeless.

"Hey… what's wrong?" I asked, even though I knew perfectly well what happened. I was just surprised that he was coming to _me _to say something about it. Again, he didn't respond. He just sat down at the table and sighed very heavily. I waited patiently.

"Maya…" He began, his voice supple with anxiety, "She doesn't like me."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you hear me? She doesn't _like _me. That's exactly how she said it." He replied very bluntly, clearly back to his old self again. No tune to his voice, no smile on his face. It was completely and utterly void.

"I'm… so sorry." I said quietly, trailing my finger along the patterns on the table. He let out a small, agitated sound.

"She didn't even tell me why. I even asked, and she avoided the question completely." He continued, his voice becoming a little louder and little more animate. God, I was going to give her so much shit for this later.

"… I know." I confessed, scratching the back of my hair.

"What do you mean, 'you know'?"

"I know that she doesn't like you."

He narrowed his eyes dangerously at me, gripping his hands into tight fists.

"_Why didn't you tell me_?" He asked menacingly, his voice coated in venom. I was taken aback for a few moments.

"I couldn't! You were so happy." I defended, "Besides, wouldn't you have rather heard it from her than from me?"

He slammed his fists down onto the table exasperatedly and let out a disconcerted noise.

"Why?" He asked me.

"Why what?"

"Why doesn't she like me?" He asked again, this time his voice had toned down a little. His eyes were swollen with emotion.

"She didn't tell me, either." I said truthfully, trying to look away from him. Seeing him in such a raw state was making me uncomfortable.

"I bet I know why…" He muttered to himself, looking away from me.

"Why?" I asked.

"It's because…" He trailed off, still looking away from me but I could sense his discomfort. "It's because I'm an orphan, isn't it? I'm sure that's what she told you. But you just didn't want to hurt my _feelings _again. Isn't that right?"

I was in complete shock. For a moment, no words came to my mind. He stared hard at me, accusingly.

"I didn't know," I pleaded, "I swear. But that can't be why she doesn't like you… that's just heartless."

"Yeah. Heartless." He repeated, running his hands through his hair agitatedly. "But I wouldn't doubt it. She probably only went to the festival with me for some sort of… some sort of _charity _or something."

"What do you mean?"

"That's how that whole family is. They think they're being generous, but it's all a lie. Just like taking me in was a lie."

"I don't understand. Jake said you used to live here but then you moved away. And they asked you back to be Yolanda's apprentice, or something?"

"Yeah, that's what they tell everyone in this town. I did live here, with my parents," He began, "But we moved. And they died. For ten years of my life, I was completely on my own. No word from anyone here in Waffle Town; no word at all. None of them even came to the funeral when asked. It was just until now, at age twenty-one, that they saw my cooking ad. The one that I had been posting for five straight years, and finally when they need a new cook, they hire me. They didn't take me in out of the goodness of their hearts… they took me in just as another worker. If their old cook hadn't moved away, I wouldn't be here right now. They just tell that other story to seem like good-hearted, charitable people."

"… Wow." I said after a few moments of silence. I could barely even believe was I was hearing.

"Yeah. So if you want to tell me that the 'date' to the festival wasn't charity, you can go right ahead. But I'm almost one-hundred percent positive that it was."

I was still for a minute, not exactly sure what to say. Or how to say it. But I did know one thing: I had to let him know that I didn't doubt him.

"I believe you." I said quietly. He stared in awe at me for a moment.

"You… what?"

"I said I believe you."

Watching his face, I saw that even through all of the agony, grief, and resentment he was feeling, he smiled. It was a tiny one, and lasted for only a second or two, but it was enough.

"Thank you."

**A/N: Aw, poor Chase. So lonely. Anyways, I think I might put the next chapter in Chase's POV. What do you think?**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This next chapter will be in Chase's POV. I hope you guys don't mind! I just want to show you all what Chase is thinking at this point in the story. Enjoy!**

The moment I saw that silly-grinned, stubborn, high-and-mighty farmer, I knew we weren't going to get along. And for the life of me, I couldn't remember her name.

"I'm sorry, what's your name again? Amy, or whatever? I can't cook with you breathing down my freakin' neck. Could you go somewhere else?"

Okay, so I knew the comment was pretty harsh… but what could you expect? I was a harsh person.

Today was my second day back in Waffle Town. For the past ten years, I have been living in the city. In an orphanage, of all places. Let's rewind a little bit, shall we?

I was born here and stayed until I was ten years old. My parents and I lived in a small house next to the Meringue Clinic. My father was an artist in all senses of the word and he sold his paintings, sculptures, and etc. to the people of Waffle Town. I loved this town with all of my heart when I was little, until we had to move away.

The shop wasn't doing good business, and my father really thought that moving to the city was a better idea. I was young at the time, and I believed my parents when they said we would visit as often as we could.

But he was right. The paintings sold for a lot more than they had in Waffle Town, and my parents were very happy with their good decision. It wasn't until they took a train to the downtown area to meet with a potential buyer that they died in a train wreck. My stomach still drops every time I think of the day.

I remember the moment perfectly. My fingers and toes prickled in an odd fashion and a metallic taste filled my mouth. The voices of important-looking men were harsh and unforgiving as they told me what happened. I couldn't even register half of the things that these men were saying; all I could think about was the many unused canvases that my father was so excited to fill up with beautiful scenery. And the orange smoothie I had promised to make for my mother when she came home. Oranges were her favorite food.

"You're going to have to come with us." One of the men said, taking my arm. With as much force as I could, I ripped my arm away from him. I remember screaming the word 'no', but I don't remember hearing it. After that, it gets fuzzy for me. My memory has never been a strong quality of mine.

Next thing I know, I'm in an orphanage called The Seeds of Hope. Though, they should have called it The Seeds of the Devil, in my honest opinion. The children there were wordless and cruel. The owner of the orphanage was an obese and rude man who went by the name Charles. I hated him with every fiber of my being.

The initial shock I had felt after they died didn't subside for years. I would spend days thinking about it, wondering what would have happened if we never left our old home. Or wondering what would have happened if they buyer came to them, instead of them going to the buyer. The train would have been wrecked, but they wouldn't have been on it. I would be enjoying a home-cooked meal with my parents instead of sitting on a cold floor, wondering when the hell I would get out of there.

The only sensible person in the joint was a lady named Sheila. She was the cook, and prepared meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She was sarcastic and hilarious, and we clicked very well. After a few years of being in the orphanage, I was in the kitchen constantly, helping her peel potatoes or cut onions. After a while, she let me take over the reins; I was the one cooking all the meals. And secretly, she started to pay me for it.

"You're going to go places, kid," She told me once, wagging a spoon in my general direction, "Trust me. I know talent when I see it."

By the time I was eighteen, I was allowed to graduate from the hellhole and get my own place. Thankfully, with all of the money I had saved up from working in the kitchen, I could buy myself an apartment. It was tiny, and it resided in the slums of the city… but it was my own.

Immediately I sent out flyers, advertisements, and etc. to publicize my cooking expertise. Unluckily for me, there wasn't a ton of takers. That's when I remembered Waffle Town. Now, my memory has failed me on a lot of things, but one thing I remember and will remember indefinitely was my old address: 104 East Belgium Lane. I quickly scribbled the address onto a crumpled envelope and I sent out a plea for help. I explained my predicament and attached one of my many ads before sending it out and praying that someone reads it.

Weeks passed. Months. Years. Part of me doubted that anyone ever read it, for I sent it to a house that may be unoccupied. It wasn't until just a little while ago that I got a response from Jake at the Sundae Inn. I had a job.

Selling my apartment and packing up a few possessions, I was going back home. Although, one question that nagged me was: Why didn't they ask me back sooner?

I'll tell you why. They needed a last minute replacement. Their old cook, Sam or something, quit abruptly and moved out of town. Now, who was just desperate enough to move all the way to Waffle Town, and had a bit of cooking experience? Why, me, of course.

How do I know all of this, you ask? While passing by my old house, I took a look inside the mailbox. You know, out of curiosity and junk. There was my letter, crumpled and ripped open. The advertisement was gone. At first, I figured that they just opened it recently and sent me the letter asking me to come home, but slowly I began to put the pieces together. They opened the letter a while ago, probably a few years back, and didn't do shit about it until they needed more staff. When I finally confronted Jake about all of this, he didn't even deny it. That stupid prick.

"Hmph." Came a noise from next to me. It was the farm girl. Was she really still here? Almost as if on cue, she turned around and headed for the door.

"Oh, and Allison?" I called after her. She turned around, looking like she was expecting me to say something nice. Screw that. "Tell Jake we're out of tomatoes."

She glared at me angrily, as if she was ready to slap me with the worst insult she could think up.

"Uh, what's the magic word?"

I almost wanted to laugh out loud, but I just wasn't in the mood for it.

"…Now?"

Instead of doing my simple favor, she huffs her chest out and pushes open the door.

"Hey! Wait! Ariel!" Yes, Ariel sounded about right. Again, she turned around and opened her mouth wide,

"It's _Angela_!"

Ariel, Angela. Potato, potah-to. Did it really matter?

I continued to rigorously stir the stew that I was making for my lunch, still heated about all of this nonsense. So, they hired me here because I can cook relatively well, and because I was desperate enough to sell my apartment to move here for good? Awesome. I was _so _glad to know that little tidbit. Just as I began to pour the stew into a bowl, the door opened. I swear, if it was that cranky chick again, I would blow my lid off. I was obviously not in the mood to play name games.

But it wasn't her. It was Maya. My childhood crush. Almost as if I had never left, my heart began to beat rapidly like it had when I was nine years old, playing tag with her at the Brownie Ranch.

"Hello!" She greeted me, holding out a cake that looked… well, it looked disgusting. But it was _her_. "You're Chase, right? My name is Maya! Nice to meet you!"

She didn't even remember me. I narrowed my eyes at her, thinking that maybe if she got a good look at me she would recollect the memories in her mind. But she just stood there with a goofy grin on her face and her hand outstretched. I ignored the hand. So Jake and Colleen didn't even _tell _her about me, and how I used to live here? God, this place was so screwed up.

"Would you like to try my cake?" She asked, holding it out. Uneasily, I took the fork and stuck it into the cake before bringing it to my mouth. Immediately, I ran to the sink to spit it out.

"Oh god," I mumbled as I wiped my mouth, "What kind of ingredients were those? Too bitter, and _way _too crumbly. Bleck, I can't get the taste out of my mouth now."

Without notice, she dropped the cake onto the floor and ran out of the Inn looking upset. Serves her right.

But something inside of me still felt that burning sensation deep inside of my chest when I caught a glance at her. I tried my hardest to shake it off before grabbing my stew and heading towards the table to eat in silence.

After a while, things began to get unbearable around Maya. She was always prancing around, constantly laughing about something and just being this downright cheery _freak_. And the worst part is: she was ignoring me! Eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore. If she didn't talk to me, I didn't know what I would do. I was practically in love with her back then, for Goddess's sakes! And now that it was eating away at me, I had to do something.

Soon, I found out that Angela was her best friend. Perfect. All I had to do was convince her with my boyish charm and she would definitely help me out.

But that plan failed as soon as I thought it up. Boyish charm? What is wrong with me? I practically sneak attack her, insult her, and then blurt out that I like Maya and that she should help me. She said no.

Plan B: Find someone else willing to help me. Searching through the townspeople in my head that I had met so far, I'm pretty sure none of them were friends with Maya. And I wasn't about to ask Prick-Face McSonofabitch. I mean… her dad.

So I did what I do best: beg. I did her morning chores for her, I caught her bait for fishing, I did everything I could! Until finally, I presented her a cake for Thanksgiving that she obviously loved so much that she had to say yes. Okay, so I did threaten to pester her for the rest of her life, but still.

Thus began planning. We met at her house in the morning to discuss what we were going to do, when, how, and all of that junk. Somehow, we came up with Plan: Get Maya to Like Chase Attempt #1, which included Angela spying and me making up some lame excuse to have lunch with Maya.

It was a failure. Completely. So, we tried again. This time, I sucked it up and asked her on a date. Well, sort of. Angela did the asking, but… I did the talking! We had fun, I have to admit, and before I knew it I was acting like a twelve-year-old with his first girlfriend. Even though she was my first girlfriend, if you could consider her that.

And then there was the Starry Night Festival. Going out on a limb, I asked her to accompany me to watch the stars on that night, and she gladly accepted. She bounded upstairs and I did my little victory dance (I am a pro at the victory dance) and headed outside. That's when I ran into Toby.

"Hey Chase," He greeted me, "You look awfully happy today."

"I suppose I am." I realized, scratching my chin a bit.

"What's the occasion?" He asked, swinging his fishing pole around lazily. Where _didn't _he take that thing? Was he constantly going fishing?

"I just asked Maya to the Starry Festival, and she said yes." I replied calmly. No sense in hiding why I was happy at the moment. It was a rare occasion.

"Awesome! Yeah, I asked Angela this morning and she said yes too. Hey, we should go together!" He replied way too enthusiastically. And for some reason, I was taken aback by this statement. By no means was I jealous (why would I be? I had Maya), but something about it was just… unnerving. Especially after last night.

We ended up staying up until very late, rehearsing what I would say to Maya. And it was actually fun. It was the first time I had had fun in such a long time that I actually begged her to stay when she was half-asleep. But the weirdest part of the night was when she told me to pretend she was Maya.

"That's, um… that's a very nice… dress?" I remember choking out, stumbling over my words like I had just learned a new language. She frowned and shook her head at me.

"Wrong, wrong. You have to be confident about this! Don't say 'Uh, I guess I like your dress. Kind of.' Or else she won't buy it."

I sighed, wondering how I could just pretend she was someone else. It was very difficult to muster when I had so much on my mind.

"That dress looks beautiful on you." I stuttered, shoving my hands into my pockets and looking away in embarrassment,

"Nope, wrong. You sound like someone's stabbing you in the leg while you're talking to me. I'm Maya, not Angela! Say it like you mean it!" She yelled at me as she took my shoulders and shook them violently. I let out an elongated breath and closed my eyes for a second before opening them. It was hard to convince myself that Angela wasn't really Angela, but when I just let go of my inhibitions, it came easier. Sort of.

"Um, all right." I began, taking a huge breath. "You look very beautiful today…"

And she did. But this was 'Maya' I was talking to. The bizarre vibes I was getting from Angela that night kind of freaked me out. But when I slept on it, it didn't feel as weird. We were just becoming friends, right? I haven't had many friends in my life, and it was probably just a strange feeling.

"Oh? You asked Angela?" I inquired, pretending to be interested.

"Sure did!"

"Well, yeah, we could go together." I thought over. I mean, it couldn't hurt, right? And Angela would be right there to pinch me when I did something wrong.

"Cool!"

Oh boy, did I regret that decision.

We had just finished the dinner I had so carefully prepared for the night, when Toby opens his mouth and shoots out this gem:

"What do you call a fish without an eye? A fshhh!"

Not only was that the worst joke I ever heard, but also Maya actually thought it was funny! Either that, or she was really, _really _good at acting. And then he busts out with this philosophical crap about the stars and all I can think is: Barf.

All the while, I'm scooting closer to Maya, trying to 'make a move', if you will. After all, I looked next to me to see that Toby was holding Angela's hand, and they hadn't even been on a date yet! Or had they? Sometimes I forget that I've only been living in Waffle Town for one season.

When the clock struck ten, we all stood and dusted off our pants. Angela immediately grabbed onto Toby's arm and asked him to walk her home. Again: Barf.

"Hey, let's talk." Maya said quietly from next to me. I nodded and smiled as we began to walk towards the Sundae Inn, taking a different route that Toby and Angela took. Immediately, I grabbed her hand and she almost freezes with nerves.

"What's up?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could.

"I, um, I have to tell you something." She began, and I could feel my heart swell uncomfortably. So many possibilities whirled through my mind that I became dizzy.

"Okay," I willed her to go on, feeling her hand wriggle in my grasp. She must really be nervous.

"Well, uh, I… I don't… agh, this is hard." She began uneasily, "I don't l-like you. In that way."

Immediately, I let go of her hand. I was _definitely _not expecting that. Suddenly, I grew very irate.

"What do you mean?" I asked menacingly. She gnawed at her bottom lip, looking like a child who just got reprimanded.

"I'm really, _really _sorry." She said in a guilty voice. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, sure." I muttered.

"Really! I don't know why… I just can't. I feel so bad."

My _ass._ What a fake.

"So why'd you say yes to me? You thought you'd 'humor' me a little? You're ridiculous." I seethed before leaving her in the middle of the Maple Lake District, completely alone. Screw it if she gets attacked by a pack of wild bunny rabbits. Before I even knew what was going on, I was heading to Angela's house. Not walking, either. I was sprinting.

By the time I got close to her house, I noticed Toby and her standing at the doorstep. Kissing. What the hell!? When the pulled away, he waved goodbye to her and bounded in the opposite direction of me. God, this night has been the worst.

Slowly, I approached her house. Feeling livid, miserable, and now a little disturbed, I knocked on the door.

I spilled to her the whole story. She was the first villager I had told about being an orphan, other than the ones that already knew. Most people I know would have waved it off as stupid or childless to be angry with Jake and Colleen about what had happened, but she said the one thing I wasn't expecting.

"I believe you."

And I replied with the only words I could think of,

"Thank you."

A pregnant silence filled the air, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was… rather pleasant. I exhaled deeply, feeling my fingers quake and my heart thump boisterously. I was still in shock from everything Maya had just told me. Like father, like daughter, I suppose.

"So, you're… you're an orphan?" She asked in an unusually frail voice. I sighed, rifling my fingers through my obnoxiously untamed hair.

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

"… They died in a train wreck. Rather suddenly, actually. They had just left to go downtown and then these two men came to tell me… well, to tell me what happened."

Her eyes grew inflamed with raw emotion.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You really don't deserve it." She commented, staring off into space. How did she know what I deserved or what I didn't deserve? I was a bad person. Harsh. Rude. How could she say I didn't deserve it?

"What do you mean by that?"

"That you don't deserve it? Well, you were young, right? You should have never been put in that position."

"I… I guess you're right."

"What were they like? Your parents, I mean."

"My father was an artist. He was extremely hard working, and he had a lot of , and blonde, I think. My mom was just a regular stay-at-home mom… from what I remember; she was extremely considerate of everyone else. I like to think that if she were still alive, she wouldn't have burned out like a lot of people do. I think she was one of those people who would have stayed selfless regardless of whatever she had been through." I told her. I smiled in reminiscence. It's true that I couldn't remember their faces, but their personalities… I'm sure no one could forget something like that. She smiles, too, but doesn't say anything.

Again, the silence entered the room as I tapped my restless fingers on the wooden table. I was sick of talking about these depressing topics. All I wanted to do was get off the subject of my past and/or Maya. I just wasn't entirely comfortable with it.

"So… you and Toby?" I asked, scratching the back of my head. She immediately turned pink.

"No, no. It's nothing."

"Nothing, huh? What I saw a few minutes ago certainly wasn't nothing."

"You creep! You were spying on us?" She exclaimed, flinging her hands into the air like a wild animal as she stood from her chair. I laughed at her.

"I definitely wasn't spying. I just happened to be walking towards your house when I saw it… that's all! And I'm not a creep!"

"Yes, you are. You're a creep." She replied with a very sly smirk on her face as I stood as well, placing my turbulent hands on the table with a _clang_. Inching my face closer to hers, I whispered,

"Well, that means you're a jerk."

"Whatever, Mr. High-and-Mighty."

"Stubborn witch!"

"Arrogant air head!"

"Rotten loser!"

"Insensitive prick!"

We didn't even notice that our foreheads were practically touching.

"Twisted freak!"

"Inconsiderate moron!"

Gazing intently at each other for a few moments, her eyes filled with something I had never seen before as she grabbed the back of my head, lacing her fingers into my hair. With force, she pushed her lips against mine, sending me reeling into a daze that I couldn't quite snap myself out of.

**A/N: Aw, don't you just love them? Heh, I was really excited to write this chapter. It will go back to Angela's POV next chapter, don't worry. I just wanted to give you a little snippet of what Chase was thinking, and some extra scenes that Angela didn't see. Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I love reading all of your reviews. Seriously! I'm so glad you all like this story. I'm so excited to keep writing! Enjoy!**

What in the world have I gotten myself into?

I have absolutely no idea how I went from calling Chase an 'insensitive moron' to practically attacking his face. It wasn't even a light kiss, either. Oh no. I attached my hands to the back of his head and crashed our lips together. He must think I'm crazy.

When I finally pull away from the kiss, it's like I'm looking in a mirror. We had the exact same shocking expression on our faces as if we just committed murder or something. A stillness occupied the air around us as we tried to contemplate what had just happened. Without notice, Chase spoke,

"I, uh… I should go."

Oh god. I definitely did something wrong. In a second, Chase stood and was out the door, not bothering to say goodbye. As soon as the door clicked shut I collapsed into a chair and let out an elongated groan. Why did I have to do that? Chase and I were just beginning to get along, and then I go and ruin it by doing something I didn't even mean to do. Well, sort of.

Let's face it: I was attracted to him. Sure. But that's normal, right? Boys and girls get attracted to each other. That doesn't mean I have to go and _kiss _him like that. My God, I was desperate. Especially after that little encounter in front of my house with Toby. I think I was just flustered, that's all. After kissing Toby and then finding out about Chase's past… I was in a bad state of mind. And if anyone says otherwise, I'll go ninja on their ass.

After literally smacking myself upside the head about nine times, I hopped into bed. It was one in the morning, just five more hours until I would wake up. Wonderful.

For the first time in the year that I've been here, I didn't sleep at all.

I tossed and turned all night, trying to get comfortable all while trying to shove the mental images out of my head. By the time it was six, I was already up and dressed, sitting at my table with a cup of horribly made coffee in my trembling fingers. Today was definitely not going to be my day.

I did my morning chores before grabbing my rusty fishing pole from the toolbox. Today seemed like a good day to get away from Waffle Island and relax. Quickly, trying not to be seen by Chase, Toby, or Maya, I found the captain of the boat and begged him for a ride to Toucan Island, even if it was his day off.

"Fine, fine. But let's not be too long, okay?" Pascal said as we boarded the ship and sailed off into the distance. We landed on the island at around ten. I hopped off the boat and wandered around for a good fishing spot before reeling back my pole and casting it off onto the pale blue water.

Nothing. No bites; not even a little nibble. A gust of frigid air passed by me, causing my shoulders to quake and shiver. Why was I here again? Oh yeah. Must avoid Chase like the bubonic plague.

After a few hours, I had only caught a rubber boot and some swim shorts. Just one more article of clothing and I could have a whole outfit! Lazily pulling in my line, I swung my fishing pole over my shoulder just as the clouds above me began to close in. A deep rumbling sounded from far away as I approached the boat, seeing Pascal checking his pocket watch with a worried expression on his face.

"Ready to go?" He called to me over a roar of thunder. I nodded and we hopped onto the boat.

When we arrived, I was dismayed to see that Toby was on the pier, fishing and whistling his little heart out. Despite the fact that it was Winter, he had on light clothing and _sandals_, for crying out loud. Honestly, was he dropped as a child? But then another thought occurred to me: how was I going to get past him?

"Angela!"

Too late.

I smiled and advanced towards him, trying to think of excuses to sprint hurriedly in a separate direction.

"Hey Toby." I greeted him. He blushed on the spot, biting his lower lip.

"Can… can we talk? Later?" He asked, rubbing his shoulder. I nodded.

"Sure, why not?" It's better than now, I suppose.

"Cool. Let's meet at Alan's Tree tomorrow? At, say… noon?"

I grinned, "Sounds good."

With that, I scurried past him and headed for my house, careful not to run into anyone else. I was sick of human contact. All I wanted to do was sit by myself in silence. And that's exactly what I did for the rest of the day.

The problem with me is that I can't keep my mouth shut for longer than a few days. I knew that by the time New Year's Eve approached, I would be _dying _to tell someone about what happened the night of the 25th. Damn my big mouth.

I woke up at nine the next morning, not even noticing that it was late. My subconscious must have not wanted me to get up, seeing as I had to meet Toby at Alan's tree in a few hours. Sluggishly, I dragged my feet to the coop, feeding the chickens slowly along with my cows and sheep. I would rather dance the cha-cha slide with both Chase _and _Maya then meet up with Toby. I contemplated not going at all… but I just couldn't do that. I would feel so bad.

So at twelve, I scuttled over to Alan's tree, spotting Toby leaning on the trunk with a nervous look on his face. Oh boy.

"Hey Angela," He greeted me, his voice shaking just a little bit. I muttered 'hi' as I approached him, feeling slightly sick myself.

"I… um, I don't know how to say this." He began, "I'm not very good with these sorts of things, heh."

Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god. I pursed my lips together, knowing what was coming next but I didn't want to admit it. My breath quickened as he wrung his hands tentatively, trying to think of the correct words to spit out.

"Er, I… I love you, Angela."

_I can't do this. I can't do this, _I said to myself over and over again. What do I say do that? 'Sorry, but I don't love you because you're a fish boy'? Or 'Sorry, but I don't love you because I don't want our children to be named Rock Lobster and Char'? I was at a complete loss for words.

"… Are you okay?" He asked me, looking very confused. I felt so bad for the guy…

"Yeah, fine. Delighted, in fact." I spat out in a monotone voice. _Delighted_!? I was just making the situation ten times worse than it was before! He smiled genuinely.

"That's good! Wow, that takes a load off of my shoulders." He said in a relieved tone, scratching the back of his head. I smiled lopsidedly at him, "Well, I have to get back to the shop. But listen, there's something I want to give you. Meet me here again tomorrow? At six?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Great!" He said as he took a step closer to me, "Thanks for everything, Angela. I'll see you later."

And with that, he kissed my cheek and bounded down the hill towards the Ganache Mine District. I touched my cheek softly, feeling the cool imprint that his lips left. Shuddering I collapsed onto the ground, leaning my head against the tree. And, out of now where, I started to cry.

Not only was I completely baffled about the whole Chase thing, but now I had to worry about breaking Toby's little heart? And that would mean that I'm just like Maya. Leading him on, and then completely crushing him. I couldn't do it. Maybe I could just get used to being Mrs. Fish for the rest of my life… it couldn't be as bad as letting him down, could it? I sighed and wiped the glistening, brackish tears from my cheeks and stood, brushing off the back of my pants. I needed to tell someone about this right away. I couldn't keep any of this to myself anymore.

Although I was completely pissed at Maya for crushing Chase (boy, I'm a hypocrite), I had to talk to her. She was the only person who would understand. So I carefully stepped my way down the hill and walked back towards Waffle Town, ignoring weird stares from Gray, a rancher at Brownie Ranch. Please tell me he didn't see my mini-breakdown.

Finally, I reached the Sundae Inn. It was almost three, meaning that Chase wasn't working yet. Pushing open the door, I spotted Maya cleaning a table and I grabbed her arm, dragging her upstairs.

"What are you doing?" She asked angrily, pulling away from my grip.

"I have to talk to you." I said very seriously as we reached her room. She sighed, brushing a piece of flyaway hair away from her face.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"I… um, oh gosh, how do I say this?" I muttered to myself. I was so adamant about telling someone that I had no idea how I was going to word it. "I kissed Chase."

Almost immediately, it was as if a load of bricks was taken off of my shoulders and thrown onto the ground. I exhaled loudly, feeling a little better about everything.

"_What_?" She asked as her face contorted from calm to shocked in a matter of seconds.

"Listen, it's not like that! He was really upset, and he came over, and… and…" I must have looked like a bumbling idiot.

"You _kissed _him? _You _kissed _him_?" She repeated, her eyes wide with disbelief as she sat down on her bed slowly.

"It was spur of the moment! Trust me, it didn't mean anything." I spurted out. She looked up at me with a look of realization on her face.

"Angela, you took advantage of him."

"Huh?"

"Chase was in a state of emotional turmoil, and you kissed him! That's called taking advantage!"

Since when was Maya a relationship consultant? Using terms like 'emotional turmoil'? I rolled my eyes. She was acting like I forced my tongue down his throat or something.

"Whatever! I didn't take advantage of him."

"You did. He was upset because of me, and he went to you. Did he return the kiss?"

"Well, sort of…"

"And what happened afterwards?"

"We just kind of stared at each other for a few minutes and then he said he had to go, and left." She nodded knowingly, as if she was an expert at this type of thing. I narrowed my eyes at her, but decided there was no use in getting mad, "We haven't talked since. Hell, I haven't even seen him since."

"Yeah, he's been ignoring me, too. Wait, no, that's not entirely true. He spilled blueberry juice on me yesterday and muttered 'whoops'."

I stifled a laugh. Sure, Maya was my best friend and all, but she _totally _deserved that.

"Guess what else happened?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest tightly.

"What?"

"Toby said he loved me. Today! Like, an hour ago!" I exclaimed. Her hands flung to her mouth as she gasped loudly.

"Are you serious?!"

"Yes, I'm serious! I don't know what to do. He said he wants to give me something tomorrow, and I'm really freaked out."

"Wow. That is… wow."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I can't do this! I don't like Toby… he's so… I don't know. Not my type."

Maya nodded slowly, looking down at her feet. She knew exactly what I was going through. Well, sort of.

"Listen, I'm going to leave now. I'll see you later, I guess."

"All right. See you."

I waved at her as I headed out of the room and down the stairs. Of course, I totally forgot that it was past three, and Chase was standing right at the foot of the stairs. My breath caught in my throat as I continued down the stairs, trying my best not to look at him. But he was staring directly at me as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't. I walked as fast as I could towards the door, leaving a trail of guilt and shame behind me. At least he didn't try to talk to me.

Yet again, I couldn't sleep that night. I lay face up in my bed, breaking into a cold sweat every five minutes. For some reason, I just couldn't shove my morbid thoughts out of my head. What if I was doomed to be with Toby for the rest of my life? What if I was in too deep? I finally fell asleep at about four in the morning, and woke up nine hours later to a knock on the door.

I stood and stretched before draping a robe over my shoulders and answering the door. It was… Mayor Hamilton? I shuddered to myself as I remembered my dream…

"Good afternoon, Angela!" He greeted me. I muttered a slightly incoherent 'hello' back at him. He didn't even seem puzzled that it was one in the afternoon and I was still in my pajamas.

"Listen, I understand you are getting comfortable here in town. And I just wanted to let you know about a custom that we in Waffle Town have abided by for years."

I nodded, willing him to go on.

"Well, when one proposes here, we use the blue feather. It is dropped from the blue bird, a native inhabitant of this island. It can be seen flying high above the town, usually around this area," He explained, gesticulating towards the Caramel River. "Near the falls, actually. Now, I noticed that you've been getting quite close to Toby, yes?"

Oh god. Even _he _knew? I gulped and nodded with a nervous smile on my face.

"Wonderful! I just wanted to let you know that if you… you know, want to 'pop the question' as they say, you must propose with the blue bird's feather."

"O-okay, great." I said with mock enthusiasm, getting ready to shut the door. He chuckled to himself.

"Why, I remember when I proposed to my wife with that blue feather…" He said, before launching into a full-fledged yawn-fest about the sacred marriage bond and all of that jazz. After about five minutes of rambling, I cut him off.

"That sounds great, Mayor Hamilton. But I don't feel very good right now, can I talk to you later?"

"Sure! Feel better!" He said happily before leaving. I shut the door quickly and sighed. This was like a freakin' horror movie. Every corner I turned, there was a scary monster lurking, ready to pounce on me. If this was how I was going to spend the rest of my life, I was going to go crazy.

"No use in going back to sleep," I told myself as I dressed for the day and headed outside. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I barely noticed it was New Year's Eve. All of the villagers were milling about outside of their shops, wishing me a happy new year as I passed by them. Sure, a very happy new year indeed.

By six, I was walking towards Alan's tree once again, telling myself that I wasn't going to pass out. Or throw up. Or both.

"Hey," Toby said softly, blushing immediately when he saw me.

"Hi."

I didn't neglect to notice that his hands were behind his back.

"I, um, have something to give to you."

_In through the nose, out through the mouth_, I told myself, trying to keep from hyperventilating. Almost as if everything had gone into slow motion, Toby pulled out the blue feather from behind his back at a snail's pace.

At that moment, I couldn't feel a thing. My hands and feet were prickling and the only thing I heard was the sound of my heart thumping in my throat. I blinked furiously; trying to make sure I was seeing straight.

"I found it early this morning at Caramel Falls…" He explained, holding the feather delicately with two hands. "So, um… will you… marry me?"

Wow, how anticlimactic. A lump in my throat formed as I kept staring at the feather. _Just say yes, _I told myself, _or else you'll be ashamed for the rest of your life_.

"Well, I… er, I'm not sure." I said, forcing the words out of my mouth like it was a bad fish. His face fell. "I mean, I have a lot of things going on right now."

"I understand." He said very quietly. I could barely see straight anymore as he shoved the feather into his pocket and sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry, Toby. But maybe when I'm, um, less busy?"

His face lit up again in an instant.

"Yeah! Great! Wow, thank you so much Angela. You've made me so happy!" He exclaimed, pulling me into a lung-crushing hug. I laughed nervously.

"I'll see you, then." I told him before we went in separate directions, just like yesterday. Boy, why did it seem like my life was just one huge bout of déjà vu? I shook off that feeling and rushed towards the Sundae Inn. I had to talk to Maya… again.

I pushed open the door harshly, not caring that the Inn was closed.

"Maya, I have to talk to –"

Maya wasn't there. But Chase was.

"Um, is Maya home?" I asked very awkwardly. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Maya… who's Maya?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, Chase. I need to talk to her." I begged him, shutting the door behind me. He crossed his arms in front of his chest with a _humph_. But he didn't say a word. So I shoved past him and headed for the stairs. Quickly, he ran in front of me and held his arms out, preventing me from leaving.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I need to talk to you."

Oh great. Now what? Let me guess, he was going to admit that he was 'playing for the other team', and now him and Gill were madly in love, and eloping to some far off world called Canada. At this rate, I wouldn't doubt that story.

"About the other night," He began. I gulped, not ready to talk about this now. Especially after what just happened, "I'm sorry I left."

"… What?"

"I'm sorry I left." He repeated once again in all seriousness.

"Okay." I replied, not really sure what else I could say to that. His purple eyes gleamed in the dim lighting of the Inn as he shifted about uncomfortably.

"… That was my first kiss, you know." He stated very quietly. Immediately my guard went down. I knew he had never had a girlfriend, but never been kissed either? I felt bad. His first kiss was with me. Angela: Heart crusher extraordinaire, advantage taker of boys in a state of 'emotional turmoil'. I was a total jerk.

"And, I didn't really want it to be… well, a mistake."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but… I felt like you totally regretted it afterwards." He commented, staring at his shoes. I felt a pang in my heart.

"No, that's not it." I said boldly. "I was just… shocked?"

He made a 'hm' noise as he pushed his hands into his pockets. After a few moments of silence, he looked back up at me.

"Kiss me." He said very quietly. So quietly that I wasn't sure if I heard him right.

"W-what?"

"I said, kiss me."

I looked at him long and hard, at his ruffled peach hair and intense violet gaze. And I realized that it wasn't a mistake. Kissing him, that is. I didn't kiss him because I was confused, or overwhelmed, or caught in the moment. I kissed him because I wanted to, but I refused to believe it because I wasn't ready to be rejected. But now…?

"What's the magic word?" I whispered, smirking very slightly.

"Now."

And this time, it was him who grabbed onto my thin shoulders and pulled me towards him. Our lips crashed into each other as an arm slinked around my waist, pulling me closer to him. We were so caught up in the moment that we barely heard the sound of someone gasping.

"Angela? Chase?"

**A/N: Cliffhanger... yaaay. The whole 'Toby proposes to Angela' thing was suggested to me by ffnetgoddess. Thanks for the awesome idea!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry it took a little longer to get this chapter up and running! I was swamped with school... and now I'm not! Yaayyy. P.S. - Blubber Nuggets gives the best reviews. *love* Now, onward!**

"Angela? Chase?"

Immediately, Chase and I broke apart from our lip lock and stared at the interrupter.

"What are you doing?" Maya asked. Her face was as red as her hair as she placed her hands on her hips and stared at us accusingly. Chase and I looked at each other, and then her, and then at each other once again.

"N-nothing," I spoke up, trying to seem nonchalant in my words and actions. I failed miserably.

"Well, that didn't look like 'nothing'. That looked like a whole lot of something to me!" She exclaimed, looking enraged.

"…Huh?" Chase asked, looking confused. She shook her head in annoyance, and then turned to me.

"Angela," She said in a whispery voice, even when it was obvious that Chase could hear her, "I thought you said it didn't mean anything last time."

You're joking me. If that was Maya's idea of secrecy, she must be a complete moron. I looked over at Chase, who now looked like he was deep in thought. And then he just looked distraught.

"You told her?" He asked, his voice strained. He wasn't looking at me, but I could tell that he was furious, "You told that _bitch_?"

Maya's eyes grew wide and innocent, and she looked as though someone had murdered a cute, little bunny in front of her eyes. Not that I would call her a bitch, but didn't Maya see that she totally hurt Chase? How could she seem to naïve about it? When no one spoke for a while, Chase sighed angrily.

"Fine. I'll be going, then." He said as he walked towards the exit of the Sundae Inn. I wanted to stop him from leaving, but I couldn't think of anything that I could say to make him stay. I had, after all, told her about the kiss. No use in denying that now. And I admit to saying it didn't mean anything, but… it did. I just didn't want to say that in front of Maya.

"So what was that all about?" She asked me, her hands still on her hips as she frowned at me. Great. How was I going to explain that?

"I can't deal with this right now."

Good idea. I _wasn't _going to explain it. Now, all I had to do was hope that she gets in some freakish yet nonviolent accident where she forgets about this little scene and we can go about our merry ways. Fat chance.

Quickly, I scuttled out of the Inn, even while Maya was practically chasing me. Shutting the door loudly behind me, I walked towards my house in the cold. Wrapping my arms around myself, I shivered and shuddered until I opened the door to my home and basked in the warmth of it. Something tells me I won't be watching the New Year's sunrise this year.

At around ten o'clock that night I got a knock on the door. Instead of opening it, I decided to take a quick peek out the window. It was Toby, standing with a goofy smile on his face outside the door. I didn't open it.

The next morning, I was awoken by the bright rays of sun seeping through my window, causing my face to heat up. I fluttered my eyelids open and stretched thoroughly before getting up. Groaning outwardly, I realized something: Spring was here. Back to farming.

Grudgingly, I got dressed and went outside to find a letter in the mailbox. Yet another wedding invitation… this time it was Indiana Jones and his awful assistant. Yeah, like I was going to attend that wedding. Ha!

I herded all of the animals outside and then decided to head to the Soufflé Farm to get a head start on farming for the year. Lazily walking through Waffle Town, I entered the Maple Lake District and immediately gasped. There was Chase outside of his house with a _suitcase _in his hand. Abruptly, I broke into a sprint. Well, it could hardly be considered a sprint. I flailed and floundered all over the place, tripping on my own shoelaces every few steps as well. It was obvious that I was never a star athlete.

"Chase!" I called, approaching his house. He looked over at me and sneered.

"What?" He asked, gliding his hand through his unkempt hair. I took a second to catch my breath before pointing to his suitcase.

"You're leaving?" I panted, resting my hands on my knees. He stared at the suitcase, and then back at me again. He nodded, "Why?"

"Why not?" He asked angrily, setting the bag on the ground, "I hate my coworker and my boss. Surprise, surprise, they're related. Must run in the family. And now you…? I don't know how I feel about you."

"Listen, I didn't mean to tell her. It just kind of came out… I'm really sorry."

He shook his head as he looked down at his shoes.

"It's not that. Well, I am pissed that you told her, but… the other thing she said," His voice grew weaker as he continued, "You know, that it didn't mean anything. Because from the conversation we had yesterday, you led me to believe otherwise."

"I didn't mean it! Trust me." I pleaded. He sighed outwardly, looking up at the bright sky.

"How am I supposed to believe you?"

"… I guess that's up to you. But in all honesty, I did regret it. At first. But then… after yesterday, I realized that I was just trying to deny the fact that I did like it. Because the way you reacted made me think that _you _felt it was a mistake."

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it abruptly, seemingly taken aback. For a moment, he silently pondered what I had just said.

"Well, then. I believe you." He said carefully, repeating the words I had said the night he told me of his past. I smiled genuinely.

"Good. Now, please don't leave. Just ignore Maya, please? I don't… want you to go."

His somber face broke out into a grin as he stared at me, as if I wasn't in on some joke of his. Slowly, he picked up his suitcase and opened it. It was full of old clothes.

"I was about to go donate these to the Tailoring Shop. I didn't have any regular bags lying around so I stuffed them all in this suitcase."

Now I felt like a total idiot. We both laughed hysterically and then gradually halted to a stop. The pregnant pause that filled the air was suddenly serious. Still grinning, we both leaned in slowly, are noses just barely touching before our lips made contact. My head was spinning as he took a step closer, not breaking the lip lock. After a few moments, we broke apart, grinning goofily as we did so.

"Well, uh, do you want to come inside? I don't have to deliver these now." He said quietly, pointing his thumb towards his house. I shrugged.

"Sure, okay."

I stepped into his house for the first time, taking in the… plainness of it all. Honestly, did all of the people in this town have the exact same house? I sat down on a creaky chair and sighed.

"Want breakfast?" He asked me, heading towards the stove. I nodded and went back to looking around the house, trying to find something interesting about it. No luck. At least the house didn't smell like fish, like I imagined Toby's did. It actually had a very nice smell to it… like herbs or something. Quietly, he placed a plate of eggs in front of me as he sat down and watched me eat.

"This is great, thanks!" I exclaimed, forking mouthfuls of egg into my mouth. He chuckled at me.

"Don't forget a little thing called chewing." He said sarcastically, brushing at a crease in his dark blue apron.

"So, I was thinking," Chase began, swirling his index finger around the surface of the table distractedly.

"Did it hurt?" I interrupted him, laughing at my own lame joke. He rolled his eyes.

"Ha-ha. Funny. Anyways… I was thinking that we should go on… a, um, date tomorrow? I could cook you lunch or something." He said hesitantly. Boy, this was ironic. I helped him while on a date with Maya, and now he wants to go on a date with me? I laughed to myself.

"Yeah, that sounds good!" I exclaimed before I absentmindedly stared out the window to see Toby, whistling as we walked by the house with his fishing pole hanging lazily from his hand. Suddenly, all of the eggs in my stomach took a turn for the worse. I had practically forgotten about him in a matter of hours, and now he was back just to remind me of the tangled web of lies that I had weaved. I groaned and rubbed my stomach, trying to soothe my sudden stomachache.

"Are you okay?" Chase asked me, looking alarmed. I nodded. "Oh god, did I do something wrong? I knew I should have cooked the eggs longer!"

"No, it's not the food." I said, my hand making its way to my mouth, "I'm going to go. See you."

With that, I abruptly stood and rushed for the door, yanking it open with force. Chase muttered a confused goodbye as I sprinted down the road. Needless to say, I barely made it inside of my house before I emptied the contents of my stomach in the sink. Thinking about Toby made me feel very uneasy and completely ashamed of myself. It was even worse that I was practically living two lives: one where I was 'completely enamored' with Fish Boy, and one where I was actually crushing on Mr. Know-It-All. Why did I set myself up for this? It could only end in disaster.

For the rest of the day I laid in bed, over-thinking this whole situation over and over again. And when I finally fell asleep, I even _dreamed _about it. I was in way too deep.

The next morning, I headed over to the Sundae Inn, bracing myself to talk to Maya. I knew I would have to tell her the truth for her to forgive me. I just hope it wasn't going to be as difficult as I thought it would be.

Timidly, I pushed open the door to the Inn and braced myself for the worst. Sure, Maya seemed harmless… but when angry she was like a wolverine. I shuddered outwardly. I ran right upstairs and knocked on her bedroom door loudly.

"Wha-at?" I heard her groan from inside. I forgot that it was eight in the morning on a Saturday.

"It's Angela, I need to talk to you," I called. I heard a few grumbles as well as a loud _thunk _before she opened the door. Still in her pajamas, her hair was wild around her face as she scowled at me.

"About the other day," I began, letting myself inside of her room, "I need to be honest."

"Go on." She said, crossing her arms over her chest haughtily.

"I… I guess that kiss did mean something." I stated quietly, looking at a speck on the floor. She made a small, agitated noise but didn't say anything. "But I don't understand why you would be mad. _You _crushed _his _heart, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. I don't know… it just feels weird. You were the one who kind of pushed us together and now you're interested in him? I'm not mad, I just feel… out of the loop."

I nodded in understanding and I leaned my back against the wall as she plunked down onto her bed.

"Well, I kind of came here yesterday for a reason," I confessed, picking at my nails aggressively, "I needed to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Toby… proposed."

"_What!?_" She shouted, jumping up from the bed. I shushed her before going on.

"Yeah, with a blue feather and everything!" I gushed, happy that I could tell her about this all.

"You're joking. What did you say?"

"… I said that I was busy, and that maybe later when things aren't so 'hectic'"

"Angela! It's not like you're postponing a fishing date! This is _marriage _we're talking about! You need to tell him the truth."

Wow, really? I need to tell him the truth? Where did she come up with that brilliant idea? Sometimes I wished that I could get a little more advice out of Maya.

"Yeah, don't I know it. Anyways… I don't know when to tell him. Or how."

At that moment, I wondered why I was asking Maya for her input on this. After all, she did tell Chase 'I don't like you' and left it at that. She isn't exactly the master of the breakup.

"Anyways… I'm meeting up with Chase in a few hours." I commented, rubbing my eyes tentatively.

"Have you told him?"

"Of course I haven't told him! And I'm definitely not going to, either."

Maya sighed as she went over to her mirror to start braiding her hair, "Probably not a good idea. I'm sure he'll find out."

"You won't tell him, will you?" I asked in disbelief.

"No! I'm just saying… this town is small. Rumors go around… especially something as juicy as this!" She exclaimed, as if my situation was completely hilarious. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going back to the farm. I'll be back in a few hours."

She muttered goodbye before I left her bedroom and headed home, trying to shove her words out of my head. If Toby knew what was good for him, he wouldn't tell anyone. Maybe I should threaten him…?

No, no. Bad idea. Some townspeople still look at me with fear in their eyes when Gill (that prissy little tattletale!) told them about how I threatened to 'mangle him' and 'break him in half' if I didn't get my money. I don't want any more people to be afraid of me.

After completing my chores, I quickly changed my clothes (I didn't want to be waltzing into a date with cow dung on my shoes and fodder in my hair) and headed towards the Inn once again. When I pushed open the door, an intoxicating smell wafted towards my nostrils.

"Smells great," I said once I was inside. Chase's back was to me as he vigorously stirred a pot of something. He looked over at me and smiled. _Sa-wooooon. _He even had a smudge of flour on his chin! _Double sa-woooon_.

"Hey. Just in time!" He said as he placed a plate of pasta in front of me. It smelled heavenly. Immediately I dug in, hopefully with no stomach problems this time. "Just a moment, let me get the drinks. Blueberry juice okay with you?"

"Yeah! Sounds great." I exclaimed. He was so _cute _when he was cooking. Always wanting everything to be perfect.

Almost immediately, my good mood was ruined. Slowly, the Inn door opened to reveal…

"Hey! I found you!"

Toby: my new stalker. Okay, sure, we were practically engaged, but that doesn't give him the right to follow me… does it?

I faked a smile as he came over to the table. Quickly glancing behind me, I saw that Chase was pouring the drinks while carefully eyeing Toby. Abruptly, a pungent smell of fish overwhelmed me. I coughed noisily. Did he spray some sort of Eau de Fishies on himself every morning? Or was he just raised by a school of fish? Come to think of it, he never talked about his parents…

"I wanted to talk to you about… um," His voice dipped into a noisy whisper, "the proposal."

A chunk of pasta clung to my throat as a loud _clang _sounded from the kitchen, and we both whirled around to see Chase picking up a pot from the ground before heading towards Toby and I. I wrapped my fingers around my throat as the two boys totally disregarded me.

"What?" He asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously at Toby. Chase must have ears like a freakin' hawk if he could hear that!

"Hm?" Toby asked nonchalantly, looking from Chase, to me, and back a fuming, red-faced Chase.

"What proposal? What is this about a proposal?"

"Oh, I… well," Toby began, blushing, "I asked Angela to marry me! Isn't that great?"

I frantically pointed to my throat as the boys continued to ignore me.

"No, that isn't great! You can't be marrying Angela, she likes me! Not you!"

"What are you talking about?"

Finally, I swallowed the chunk of pasta and caught my breath before looking back up at the two. They were both visibly turning red.

"We're on a date right now. What are _you _talking about?"

"I'm in love with her!"

Unexpectedly, they both looked down at me with fury in their eyes. Well, at least Chase did. Toby's eyes looked like they always did.

"What is this about?" Chase asked angrily as they both crossed their arms. Oh great.

"I… uh, I didn't… er-"

"Is that true? Are you really on a date with him?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Did he propose to you? Did you say _yes_?"

"Um, not exactly-"

"But you love me, don't you?"

"How can she love you? You have nothing in common!"

"How do you know?"

"_Will you two just shut up?!_" I screamed, standing from my chair swiftly. Slowly, they both turned their heads towards me in awe, their mouths gaping open. I took a deep breath before looking at Chase.

"He did propose to me, a few days ago. And… I said maybe. But," I turned towards Toby, "I don't think this can work out."

Toby's face completely fell, "Is it because I didn't give you enough gifts? Or is it because I'm not smart enough? Do I take too many naps?"

"No, no, none of that. I just… I can't connect with you." I said softly, regrettably. "But you're a great person! Really. You have a great hobby, you're interesting, you have a good heart, you-"

"I think we get the point." Chase muttered.

"Why did you say maybe, then?" Toby asked, looking down at the floor.

"I was flustered and confused… It was really stupid of me to say that." I replied, feeling a heavy weight lift from my shoulders. Although, it was really tough looking at Toby so saddened.

"I understand… I think." Toby said quietly. Next to him, Chase smiled triumphantly as Toby headed towards the door.

"Wait!" I called. He turned around, a frown etched deeply on his features.

"What?"

"I have an idea."

**A/N: I don't know why, but I just didn't like this chapter a lot. Oh well. Next chapter will most likely be the last, unless I get any more dramatic ideas to keep the story going.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took longer to write. I was busy with school! **

"So… do you like fish?"

Gripping a pebble in my hand, I chucked it at him quietly, "Ow!"

"Does he ever stop talking about fish?" Chase whispered sharply to me as we were crouched below the Sundae Inn side window, sweating profusely from the late Summer heat. Maya laughed melodically.

"Yes, I love fish, actually. I have never been too good at catching them, though!"

"Well, I could help you. You know, if you want…"

"That would be great!" Maya exclaimed.

"Basically, it's all in the swing. Casting is the basis of fishing, and it can be quite tricky if you don't do it correctly. And then there's baiting, and – Ow!"

Chase snickered to himself quietly, clutching his mouth so he didn't make too much noise.

"Is the cheese risotto hot?" Maya asked him, twirling her finger around the rim of her iced tea thoughtfully. Toby laughed and scratched the back of his head uneasily.

"Yes… quite."

It had been more than a full season since I stood inside of the Sundae Inn, watching as Toby's face grew from angry to melancholy in a matter of seconds when I told him the truth about my feelings. But I had an idea up my sleeve.

"Would you like to hear a joke?" Toby asked Maya, smiling goofily as he did so. Maya nodded in excitement.

"Okay, okay. Why are fish salesmen greedy?"

"I don't know… why?"

"Because their business makes them sel-fish!"

Maya cackled aloud, banging her fist on the table as if it was the funniest joke she has ever heard. Chase turned to me, his face red from suppressing his laughter.

"They are _way _too alike." He muttered under his breath. I nodded in agreement.

"I have to use the restroom," Maya said as she wiped her eyes and stood from the table. As soon as she was out of earshot, Toby turned to us with a panicked look on his face.

"Is it going well? Do you think she likes me?" He asked worriedly.

"It's going pretty good," I said reassuringly.

"You could spare to talk about something _other than fish_." Chase said rather rudely. The two still weren't on completely good terms after their little scuffle in Spring. I elbowed Chase in the side, causing him to stick his tongue out at me.

"Got it." He said curtly, "Anything else?"

"Yeah, uh… you have some cheese on your chin," I pointed out as a pulled on the string. He chuckled heartily as Chase audibly growled. You would think that his jealousy would piss me off… but it was actually kind of cute.

"Maya's coming," Chase said, forcefully pushing Toby's head back through the window.

"Why was your head out the window?" Maya asked confusedly as she sat down, cocking her head to the side.

"I saw a pretty bird." He lied.

I smiled at the two, praying that my plan would work out. They were so compatible with each other that I was sure they would be a perfect match, but it took a little convincing on my part. At first, Maya was apprehensive. She reminded me that the last time I 'set her up', it was a disaster (yeah, like I could forget that). But I assured her that this time would be different. It started with a few gifts here and there (fish, of course), and now they were on their first date.

Of course, I convinced Toby that Chase and I should eavesdrop, just to make sure that he didn't make a fool of himself. So far, it was going pretty well.

As for Chase and I, we had been 'seeing each other' for a season and a half, and things were just starting to get serious. Sure, we still bickered like an old, married couple, but that's what kept things exciting. Minor disagreements were better than complete bliss 24/7, right? No harm in arguments.

"It's about three," Chase muttered to me, "We should get inside. I need to start on work for today anyways."

I nodded to him and we silently scuffled towards the door, brushing off our pants on the way. Toby acted surprised to see us as we came in. Thank the Goddess that Maya didn't figure out our little eavesdropping plan. Although I have _no _idea how. I was pretty loud alone, but Chase _and _I trying to be 'stealthy' together? Now that was a disaster.

"Oh hey guys!" Maya called as we entered the Inn. I smiled as Chase snorted in her general direction. He still hadn't forgiven her, but it didn't seem to faze her at all. Wordlessly, Chase wandered towards the kitchen as Toby claimed he had something to do. He kissed Maya's cheek carefully before trotting out the door with a silly grin on his face. Maya blushed profusely.

"Wow, he's… wow." She babbled, looking completely lovesick. I frowned a bit. "Well, hey, I have an idea."

I nodded at her, willing her to go on.

"I was thinking we should have, like, a 'Couple's Night' or something. It'd be fun!"

"Huh?" I asked, taken aback by her suggestion. Couple's Night? Who comes up with these sorts of things?

"My mom told me about how her and her girlfriends would get together with their significant others and play games and stuff. It sounds fun! We can invite Candace and Julius, Calvin and Phoebe…! What do you say?" She asked, her eyes filled with hope as she clasped her hands together.

"I would hardly call Toby your 'significant other'…" I commented rather rudely. She pouted.

"Whatever! It doesn't matter. I think it would be really fun… Please?" Her face contorted from hopeless to a full-blown 'abandoned puppy dog' look. I couldn't resist that face! Besides, I didn't completely oppose to the idea. Although I wasn't too thrilled to spend an evening with Pretty Boy, Debby Downer, Indiana Jones, and his lovely assistant, I felt like I still owed Toby something. Every time I glanced at him, all I could see was the look on his face that day in Spring when I broke his heart.

"Fine, whatever. I'm not sure Chase will be too thrilled, though. Last time I checked, you two still aren't on good terms." I pointed out, glancing beyond Maya to see Chase staring daggers into the back of her head while vigorously peeling a potato. I shuddered.

"Come on, Angela. You've been 'seeing each other' for like, a season now, right? Use your girlish charm on him! I'm sure he won't be able to resist." She said slyly with a wink. Something in the back of my mind told me that he wouldn't be that easy to crack. But it was worth a try. A small, teensy, insignificant try. That way, when he says no, I'll have an excuse not to go.

"And if he says no, you can just come by yourself! It'll still be fun!"

Damn.

"Fine, fine." I surrendered, closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose. She squealed happily.

"Thank you thank you thank you! I'm so excited!" She exclaimed, "I have to go tell Candace, and Phoebe! Bye!"

And with that, she bolted out the door so fast that all I saw of her was a flurry of pink and bows. Boy, when she was determined, she was _really _determined. I sighed and headed over to Chase. It was now or never.

"Chase?" I asked in an innocent voice, touching his shoulder lightly. He jumped.

"Hm?" He asked as he stirred a pot of goopy stew. _Think girlish charm… think girlish charm…_

"So," I drawled, trailing a finger lazily across his upper arm. I felt him tense up a little; our relationship wasn't all that physical yet, because I figured he was probably still uncomfortable with it. There were a few kisses here and there, but that was it. "I have to ask you a favor."

"What is it?" He asked, turning to face me. I tried my best to impersonate Maya's puppy dog pout, but I probably looked like I just dumped a glass of lemon juice down my throat. I was never too good at the whole 'convincing face' thing.

"Well, Maya wants to have this Couple's Night thing, where we get together with some other couples and play games and stuff. And, well, since we are… you know… I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going?"

For a moment, he stared at me blankly. His violet eyes grew deep with thought.

"Hmm. I don't think so." He said bluntly as he continued to stir. My face fell.

"But if you don't go, she'll make me go _alone_!" I said in a nasally, high-pitched, annoying tone. Probably not what Maya would consider 'girlish charm', but whatever. He remained unconvinced. His mouth narrowed to a tight line as he continued to stare at me. I sighed. Was I going to resort to his 'weakness'?

"You wouldn't want me going alone with Toby there, would you?" I asked. Instantly, his face contorted into anger. I was such a bad person. Ever since I told Toby to take a hike, Chase still has a 'hunch' that Toby hasn't gotten over me yet. He was probably right, but I refused to believe it. _La la la. This is me trying to be ignorant._

"Fine. I'll go. But don't make me dress up or anything…! I don't do that sort of thing."

Squealing, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he set the stirring bowl down with a _clang _on the counter. Timidly, he wrapped his lanky arms around my lower back and laughed a little.

"You _so _owe me." He whispered into my ear. I pulled away and smirked slyly at him before kissing his cheek.

"I'm going to head home. I'll give you more information when Maya gives them to me." I said as I waved goodbye. And with that, I headed home.

I didn't see Maya until a week later, when Fall leaves decorated the ground and the air was crisp. She knocked on the door late in the afternoon.

"Hi!" She greeted me, her face wide with a grin. "So, details. It's going to be Candace, Julius, Phoebe, Calvin, Chase, Toby, you, and me. And we're all going to Julius' house. We agreed that we should do it on Saturday at about seven. Is that okay?"

I sighed, but nodded. I couldn't help but feel weird about it all. First of all, two of the couples joining us were already married. Second of all, Chase despised two of the people that were attending, and probably didn't exactly like the others. Suddenly I felt nervous.

"Well, I'll see you then." I said quietly before shutting the door without waiting for a response. Deep down, I was pretty sure this wouldn't end very well.

The next few days were a blur. Finally, at around 6:45 that Saturday, I headed over to Chase's house to see if he was ready. When I got inside, Chase was standing in front of a long mirror, holding up two shirts to his bare chest.

"Augh!" He screeched when he saw me, trying to cover his chest. Although I'm not too sure why, it's not like he had anything to hide. I cracked up upon seeing his horrified façade.

"Calm down!" I exclaimed between giggles. He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his bony chest.

"Sorry, you… scared me." He muttered quietly as he slipped on a navy blue shirt, "Do I look okay?"

"What are you, suddenly worried about your appearance?" I asked, "You look fine."

He snorted as his brow furrowed, "I just want to make a good impression, I guess. I'm… not good with crowds of people, if you didn't already catch that."

I nodded in understanding; although I had never really witnessed him interact with multiple people. Besides Toby, Maya and I.

"You'll be fine. Relax!" I encouraged him, straightening out a crease in his collar. He pouted a little.

"You sure I look okay?"

"You are _such _a girl."

He playfully hit my shoulder as I dragged him out the door and towards Julius' house. I could already tell tonight was going to be long.

"Helloooooo!" We were greeted by Julius when we knocked on the hard, wooden door, "Come in, come innnnn!"

Excusing Julius and his obsession for elongating words, I stepped inside his house to see the rest of the 'gang' sitting on the couch. Maya beamed when she saw me, as did Toby. Candace muttered a meek 'hello', and Phoebe was so busy picking dirt off of Calvin's shirt that she didn't seem to notice me. Woo, party.

Timidly, Chase and I sat down and were immediately given grape cocktails by Julius, who giggled and sang about how he made them himself. Chase and I were all fake smiles and forced laughs for the first few minutes. Until the board games were taken out.

The first game was Yahtzee, an old favorite of mine from when I lived in the city. Who knew it was popular in a town like this? Disregarding that fact, I watched as Toby rolled first. The initial few turns were accompanied with excited squeals or panicked expressions, but by the end of the game, the volume cranked up about ten notches. Probably the cocktails.

"Come on, baby, roll me a six!" Calvin bellowed as he shook the cup of dice above his head vigorously. We all stifled our cackles as he threw the dice onto the table, making a _clack _noise.

"Woo! Yahtzee! Yaaahhttzzeeee!" He shrieked, jumping up and down giddily as Phoebe kissed his cheek. We were all clutching out stomachs at the outrageous scene of Calvin doing a victory dance. Even Candace managed to let out a chuckle. Next to me, Chase had doubled over in his chair, clamping his hand to his mouth so his loud guffaws wouldn't be heard. I smiled, proud that Chase wasn't reacting the way I thought he would react. Sure, he wasn't all that talkative tonight, but he wasn't reserved, either.

The night was still young at ten, when we had long put away the Yahtzee board, and the Monopoly board. All of our voices were hoarse from the last game of Charades, which had eventually ended up as a game we liked to call 'Name That Waffle Town Villager'. Empty cocktail glasses cluttered the table as Chase pulled me aside for a moment.

"I think Toby's got some secret agenda I don't know about." He said in a quiet, secretive voice. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the silver-haired boy.

"Huh?"

"He's been staring at you all night! Well, I think. It's hard to tell with those eyes of his… anyways, it's making me angry." He said, tipping over to one side a bit. I laughed, touching his shoulder as I did so.

"You're seeing things. Trust me." I said. Denial, denial, denial. It might as well be my middle name.

Exasperatedly, I dragged Chase back towards the living room just as Maya brought out a mischievous looking board. She grinned slyly, bearing her teeth like a wolf. I was even waiting for her to say 'I'll huff! And I'll puff! And I'll blow your house down!'

"What's that?" Candace asked, looking nervous.

"It's called 'Paired Up', my mom lent it to me." She said slowly, opening the box and pulling out the instructions. Basically, it was a knock off version of the Newlyweds Game. You team up with your 'significant other' to compete in an outrageous, probably humiliating game of 'How Well Do You Know Each Other?' Both partners read a series of four questions and answer them privately. One partner answers like they would normally answer the question, and the other partner answers based on how they think the their significant other answered. Confusing, yes, but Maya insisted that it was a 'hoot'.

"Okay, here are the first questions," Maya said, dealing out the question cards. Biting the end of my stubby pencil, I quickly read over the questions that I was to answer.

_The Basics:_

_1.) What is your favorite color? --- Green  
2.) What is your favorite food? --- Any vegetables  
3.) When is your birthday? --- Fall 18th_

_4.) _

A low growling sound from next to me disrupted my train of thought. I didn't know Julius had a dog…? Oh wait, it was Chase. I gripped his arm lightly with my hand to signify that he should stop; he was making a scene. Everyone in the room was staring at him except for Toby, who was staring at me. I shivered.

"Will you stop?" Chase asked in a menacing tone. Toby finally looked over at Chase and grinned sheepishly.

"Stop what?"

Chase scooted closer to me, so close that he was practically on my lap.

"Looking at her," He said simply, pointing a slender finger in my direction. The warm cocktail in my stomach bubbled uncertainly as I stared from Chase to Toby. They gazed at each other long and hard for a few moments, as if they were in a staring contest.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Toby said finally. Maya's face contorted into a sad frown as she looked at Toby, searching his face for the answers.

"You sure as hell know what I'm talking about!" Chase spit, narrowing his eyes at Toby, "Come on, Angela, let's get out of here."

He pulled on my sleeve like a little boy tugs at his mother's clothing when he wants ice cream. I stayed put for a moment, staring at speck on the floor as he continued to tug.

"You can't make her leave if she doesn't want to." Toby said, rather bravely. I could see the steam shooting out of Chase's ears as he whipped his head around at Toby.

"You're only saying that because you want her to stay! What, are you going to try to put the moves on her again?" Chase asked as the rest of the guests silently gasped. Why was my life becoming more and more like a dramatic sitcom? I could picture it now: _I Love Angela_. I could have my own studio audience and everything.I smacked my own forehead to rid of my silly thoughts as Toby stood from his chair.

"No, I have a girlfriend, thank you very much. And from the looks of it, you won't have one anymore if you keep up this charade."

I widened my eyes at Toby, shocked by his sudden snide remark, and angry that he was trying to speak for me. Chase looked down at me again, as if waiting for me to retort.

"Don't speak for me," I said rather quietly, crossing and uncrossing my legs. Toby looked taken aback by my comment, but quickly recovered. Chase smiled triumphantly as he grabbed my hand and tugged once more. This time, I stood.

"It's not my fault you're bitter that Angela refused your proposal…" Chase said, looking innocent as we made our way to the door. But Toby wasn't finished with this unpleasant tête-à-tête. He walked after us as Maya grabbed onto his wrist, trying to get him to sit back down. Poor Maya. Her 'Couples Night' has been ruined.

"I'm not _bitter_. But can you blame me for being upset? I was led on. Cheated. Played. It's not fair that I spilled my heart out to that… _harlot, _and she brushed it aside like it was no big deal."

If my life had a studio audience, they would be saying 'Oooooh!' right about now. I turned around, clenching my fists as I glared at Toby. I had never known that he could be so cruel with his words! Before I knew what was going on, I reeled my hand backwards and smacked him.

Studio Audience: _(various cheers, jeers, and 'ooooh's)_

Toby looked astonished as he took a step backwards and touched his enflamed cheek. Turning back around, I grinned triumphantly before dragging Chase out the door, gripping my fingernails into his wrist as we stepped into the cool air. As soon as we were a safe distance away from Julius' house, Chase started to crack up.

"You… are… my… _hero_!" He sputtered out between gasps. I laughed a little myself, still feeling a stinging sensation in my palm. Grasping my hand, he led me towards the Caramel River District.

"That was ridiculous," He muttered, still laughing a bit. I nodded.

"Who uses the word harlot anymore?" I asked angrily, shoving my free hand into my pocket. Chase shrugged.

"Who cares? He got _owned_."

I cracked another smile, feeling the cold Fall air brush against my teeth to make them chatter.

"You cold?" Chase asked stiffly as I spotted my house in the distance. I nodded shakily as the hand that held mine slowly detached itself and slinked across my shoulder. My cheeks were dusted rosy, partly from my shyness and partly from the cocktail that resided in my stomach. We walked in silence until we reached my house, staring down at our shoes as we kicked dry leaves out of our path. Chase smiled as I faced him at my doorstep, still shivering.

"Sorry that I made a scene back there," He uttered quietly, looking embarrassed. I shrugged.

"It's not a big deal, really." I commented, looking away, "It was… kind of cute the way you defended me."

My cheeks grew hot as he chuckled nervously.

"Well, I had to say something… I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him." He said, pushing up his navy blue sleeve to flex, "And believe me, I couldn't throw him more than an inch or two."

I grinned as he pulled his sleeve back down and very suddenly kissed me. My head swirled as I grasped onto his shoulders. He pulled away after a few moments, but his lips still lingered on mine. I felt him smile against my mouth.

"Goodnight," He whispered, before whirling around suddenly and heading in a different direction. I watched him until he turned into a speck into the distance before I scurried inside of my house to bask in the warmth.

Studio Audience: Awwwww.

**A/N: So, as you can tell, this is not the end of the story! Woo! I have a few ideas up my sleeve that I will put into use! Let me know what you thought!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome! Oh, and sorry this took kind of a long time.**

I woke up the next morning with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. No, I hadn't forgotten that Toby, Maya, Calvin, Phoebe, Julius, and Candace probably ceased liking me after Saturday night's events, and were most likely posting wanted signs around Waffle Town as we speak. And no, I hadn't forgotten that it was Fall, and all I had was my measly cat sweater from last year and some tattered jeans that couldn't heat my legs even if I paid them. But I was okay with it all. There was something inside of me that kept my grin wide and my mood inflexible.

I carefully laid out some seeds that I had bought just the other day, and watered them. I then headed to the barn to brush each cow and sheep tentatively, before feeding and petting the chickens. If I was in a good mood, my animals deserved to know.

Whistling as I made my way to Waffle Town, I realized that it was already three, and that I had already spent the whole day on the farm. Quite nervously, I headed towards the Inn, hoping that there were no angry villagers with pitchforks and torches in front of the entrance.

Luckily, there wasn't. Gathering up some sentimental thoughts and words, I prepared to apologize to Maya and hope that everything would smooth over in a little while. But as I reached for the door handle, I stopped short. A boisterous argument seeped through the door cracks, and, well… I couldn't resist eavesdropping.

"I'm sick of these outbursts!" An older voice bellowed. It sounded like Jake.

"Outbursts? What outbursts? Can you blame me for being angry at you?"

Suddenly, I felt the color drip from my face. It was Chase talking.

"Angry for what?" Jake asked, sounding nonchalant. Chase angrily sighed.

"Angry for lying to every villager about me!" He replied, "Why don't you tell them the truth? That you didn't hire me out of the goodness of your heart, but of the fullness of your wallet? One cook leaves, another poor sucker gets hired. It didn't even _matter _to you that my family used to live here. You were friends with my parents!"

Jake was silent for a moment, probably giving Chase his infamous blank stare that he always used with Maya when she yelled at him.

"Speechless, are you?" Chase asked.

"You know, Chase, I didn't have to hire you back. Especially if I knew you weren't going to be grateful." He replied very calmly. I could just picture Chase right now: running his hands through his unruly hair and crossing his arms tightly over his slender chest.

"I would have been grateful if you hired me three years earlier. Or at least if you had told people the truth." He muttered almost inaudibly. Again, a silence came over the two as I heard the footsteps of milling villagers behind me. Hurriedly, I swung my rucksack around and started to dig through it, trying to seem like I was busy with something.

"And suffer from a bad name in a town like this? People don't forget things like that, Chase, you have to understand."

"I understand perfectly! You don't want your 'reputation' to be ruined. Which is absolutely ridiculous, because the price you're paying right now is worse."

"What price is that, might I ask?"

"A guilty conscience. That is, of course, if you even have one."

I heard an angry sigh erupt from Jake; an elongated one that was obviously out of pure frustration.

"This isn't working." Jake said after a while, in a low and stifling voice.

"What isn't?"

"You. I think I'm going to have to fire you."

I had to cup my mouth in my hands to keep from gasping aloud. An impenetrable stillness engulfed the vicinity, and before I knew it, I heard clunking footsteps approach the front door. Frantically, I dove into a (thorny) patch of bushes and held my breath. But Chase was so fuming that he probably wouldn't have seen me even if I were standing right in front of the door. His fists were clenched angrily at his sides as he huffed his way towards his house. As soon as he was rounding the corner towards the Maple Lake District, I sprung out of the bushes and brushed dry leaves off of my shirt.

Slowly and leisurely, I followed him, making sure that it wasn't too obvious that I had listened in on their conversation. Moments after his door slammed shut, I approached it, wondering if talking to him would be the best idea right about now. Without thinking, I knocked on the door. Better now than never.

"What?" I heard him yell irately from the other side of the door.

"It's Angela," I called back timidly. He opened the door very slowly and stepped aside to let me in without a word.

"Why are you bleeding?" He asked after a few moments of silence, rubbing his thumb over a fresh cut on my forehead. I brushed his hand away.

"Don't worry about it," I replied. He frowned and sat down at his meager, wooden table. I remained standing, leaning my weight on the wall.

"So what's wrong?" I asked him out of the blue, looking out the window thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know… you don't seem like yourself today." I commented, feeling silly for even bringing it up. Jake wouldn't fire him, would he? He couldn't. Where would he get a new chef?

"Just a little stressed from work, that's all." He said absentmindedly, staring off into the distance. I shrugged, figuring that if he wasn't too worried about it, then I shouldn't be either. "Speaking of work, guess who totally gave me the cold shoulder today?"

"Who?"

"Maya. Well, I wouldn't technically call it the cold shoulder… she did 'accidentally' elbow me a few times while stirring, oh, and she poured vinegar on my shirt… but I guess she didn't realize that vinegar is clear, and that it doesn't stain…" He said, laughing to himself. I stepped closer to him and took a whiff of the air.

"It might not stain, but you smell awful!" I joked, punching his arm. He laughed again, but this time without humor, and rubbed his arm thoughtfully.

"Have you seen Toby recently?" He inquired. I shook my head.

"No, and I'm pretty sure I don't want to see him for a long time."

Truthfully, I was rather afraid of seeing him, for safety reasons. I didn't want him impaling me with his fishing rod, or something completely maniacal like that. I could totally picture it, too. Toby was one of those quiet types… and the quiet ones always cracked.

"I wouldn't want to either, after that slap!" Chase exclaimed, still obviously amused from last night's spectacle.

"Well, if I didn't do some physical harm to him, you would have. And it probably would have been much worse that a little slap." I reminded him. He shrugged, nodding his head.

"Yeah, well, he deserved it."

"Right you are. Anyways, I should get home. I don't want to miss the news. I'll see you tomorrow…?"

He nodded distractedly, looking in a separate direction. I left without a hug or a kiss, feeling slightly weird that Chase wouldn't tell me what happened at the Inn. But I shrugged and brushed it off, hoping that there wasn't anything to be worried about. Maybe I had misheard? "Fire you" sounds an awful lot like "admire you" or "desire you" (although that would be rather disturbing). Sighing in relief, I decided to just let it go for now.

I wasn't exactly prepared for what happened the next day.

I went about my usual chores for the day, until I saw a certain peach-haired speck in the distance looking extremely pissed. It was the typical Chase 'I'm-so-angry-I-can't-even-believe-it' type of walk: his fists were clenched at his sides, his face (even from so far away) was twisted into a ridiculous sneer, and his bobby pins weren't even in today. I stood still and expected the worst.

"That son of a bitch fired me!" He bellowed, "_Fired me_! I don't know who he thinks he is!"

I pursed my lips together, knowing that it was futile to try to calm him down right now. His chest heaved up and down, and his shoulders were so tense they were practically touching his red ears. I patted his shoulder as tenderly as I could, but he shrugged me off.

"What am I going to do? How am I going to _live_?" He asked, his voice becoming a bit calmer. I stared down at the ground, kicking a small rock gently with the tip of my shoe. And suddenly, _ding!_, I had an idea (yes, that's the sound my brain makes when I have an idea).

"I'll help you get a new job!" I exclaimed, smiling wide. He stared at me with skeptical eyes, as if to tell me to explain more. "I'm pretty good friends with a lot of people in this town, I'm sure I could score you some interviews."

"But I'm not good at anything but cooking…" Chase said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure you have a few more redeeming qualities." I joked, nudging his ribcage.

"Ha-ha. You slay me with your humor." He said sarcastically. Obviously, it was too early to joke.

"Regardless, you should let me help you. It couldn't hurt, right?"

He sighed in defeat, letting his arms flop to his sides like deflated balloons.

"Fine. But if this doesn't work, I'm coming to get you." He said in a low voice, narrowing his eyes at me. I playfully shoved him.

"Okay, well, then let's go inside and we'll make a plan!" I said happily, tugging at his arm. We collapsed onto the hard wooden chairs in my house and got to thinking of the best places he could work.

"Well, we should try the Town Hall first, mostly because you really don't need any special qualities to be able to work there." I said, chewing at the edge of my pinky nail thoughtfully.

"Yeah, if Gill works there than I can work there, right?" He joked. I laughed, but somewhere deep inside my mind I was reminded of my little fantasy of him and Gill eloping to Canada… I shuddered uncontrollably.

"And then we can try the Soufflé Farm, and after that, the Brownie Ranch. We kind of want to stay away from places like On The Hook, the Tailoring Shop, Ramsey's, and the General Store for a while…" I commented, knowing that Chase's hostile attitude would not go well with people from Saturday night. Especially Toby.

"Sounds good." He replied tersely, swiveling his finger around the wood on the table. I could already tell this was going to be hard work.

Let's just say the word 'hard' was an understatement.

Scene: Town Hall, 8 A.M. sharp on a Tuesday.

Gill (_quivering behind his desk while pretending to do busy work_): T-talk to Elli about that stuff, I'm not in charge of that.

Elli (_in a fake-sympathetic voice_): I'm so sorry, but we don't have any openings. Good luck!

(_Dejected Peach-haired Boy and Determined Farmer Girl turn to leave. Gill stares at DPB's backside as they leave, and DFG gives him a look that says 'sleep-with-one-eye-open')._

Scene: Soufflé Farm, 10 A.M. sharp, same Tuesday.

Craig (_monotonously_): You expect _me_ to hire _that_? I knew you were a dimwit, Angela, but I didn't think you were clueless.

DPB: (_frowny face_)

Scene: Brownie Ranch, 12 P.M. sharp, same Tuesday.

Hanna: Well, ever since Gray moved here, we don't really need any more help.

Gray: …

Hanna: Unless, Gray, you would be willing to share your pay?

Gray: …

Hanna: I'm awfully sorry. I do hope you find work. How about Dale's Carpentry?

DPB: Do I look like a carpenter to you?

Gray: …

Hanna: I suppose not.

Thus ended our quest for a new job. I contemplated millions of other ideas: become a farmer not unlike myself, take up a new hobby and hope that it catches on, beg for money around the Village Square, put some use to that schoolhouse above the Town Hall and become a teacher, forage for coins in the Caramel River, learn to clog dance and perform on the streets, anything I could think of. Too bad half of those things were ridiculous.

"Let's face it. I'm screwed if I can't get my job back… I don't even know who they're going to get as my replacement!" He exclaimed in a strained voice, looking absolutely exhausted after a day of horrible rejections and put-downs. I sighed, blowing a strand of hair out of my face.

"I'm really sorry. I thought my idea would work…"

"Yeah, well it didn't. And now I got my hopes up for… for what? Nothing. A whole load of nothing."

I frowned, wishing that he would stop speaking like that. He groaned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I think… I should just go home. I'll see you later."

He stood slowly from the table, as if waiting for me to tell him to stay, but I didn't. As soon as the door clicked shut behind me, I stood from the table and flopped onto my bed. The uncertainty of everything was overwhelming me, and all I wanted to do lately was sleep. And that's exactly what I did.

Within a few days, there was already a new chef. His name was Jean-Claude, and he was a total jerk.

For one thing, he wore tight leather pants. Not only were they revealing, disgusting, and just downright frightening, but also they seemed to be _the only pants he owned_. Another thing: you couldn't understand a word he uttered! The first time I met him was quite the episode.

"'Ello, mademoiselle. Welcome to la Soon-dae Een. My nahm es Jone-Clode, and I weel be your ser-veurrrr."

"Welcome to Waffle Town, Jone-Clode.

"No, no, no! J-owwne Cl-ode."

Needless to say, he was quite the character. The worst part was that when I actually could understand him, he was rude! His only redeeming quality was that it was fun to mock him. That's it.

The next few weeks were arduous. It seemed that every few days, another piece of furniture from his house was gone. One day, it was his specialty stove. The next, it was a few small paintings from the walls. Things were being sold left and right, just to pay to live.

This whole time, I was having an inner turmoil going on constantly. Chase and I had only been seeing each other for less than a year… I couldn't ask him to move in! I was a stickler for independence; commitment… well, it scared me. But, that was quite apparent after the whole Toby incident. But Chase was more than just a boyfriend, he was my friend. Sure we poked fun at each other almost constantly, but there were never any intentions to hurt each other.

But to ask him to move in…?

I was constantly ripping my hair out about this issue. I was only twenty-three! I was at my prime! Plus, I'm pretty broke myself, and I wouldn't be able to afford anything like a larger bed, another dresser, and all of that extra stuff. Ugh. Why had my conscience suddenly broken into two different parts?

Conscience #1: Ask him to move in, it can't hurt! Just make sure he gets a job soon, and he'll be back on his feet in no time. The people of Waffle Town won't let him become homeless! They're good people! And that means you should at least offer up your house for a few days… or weeks.

Conscience #2: What are you, crazy? That's a huge commitment. He's going to freak, or worse, you might be stuck with him in your house for _the rest of your life_. You're not ready to calm down, are you? Nope. You're wild. You're only twenty-three, don't let him change your lifestyle.

Conscience #1: Wild? She's a farmer!

Conscience #2: Screw you.

Yeah, my consciences fight a lot, apparently.

Finally, the only thing left in Chase's house was a chairless table and a bare bed. His face was constantly buried in his hands and his back was hunched all the time. His usual porcelain complexion was now blotchy, and his peach hair turned to a shade of faded beige. My heart ached every time I looked at him.

Winter came in the blink of an eye. Thin blankets of snow were beginning to spread out on the grass, and last of the leaves on the trees were long gone.

I woke up and did my usual chores before heading over to Chase's house like I normally did. Almost every day, we would try to come up with some ways to make sure he didn't go broke. They got more and more ridiculous every day. But as I approached the house, the lights were off. I peeked inside the window and saw nothing, no bed or table. Knocking frantically on the window, I got no response.

Immediately, I took off to the only place I knew to go to: the Sundae Inn. Certainly, there had to be _someone _who knew where he was. I burst through the doors, startling a few customers as they munched on a snack.

"Has anyone seen Chase?" I exclaimed, breathing hard. My lungs felt frozen. Everyone stared at me blankly and chewed their snacks slowly, like cows.

"Chah-z? Who iz dees Chah-z?"

Damn you, Jean-Claude.

I groaned and left immediately, heading towards the southern part of town. That's when I saw the dock, with no boat.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath as I ran towards On the Hook (reluctantly, I might add). Unfortunately for me, the only other person in the place was Toby. Fishy, stalker-like, can't-tell-if-his-eyes-are-opened-or-closed Toby.

"Have you seen Chase?" I asked hurriedly, hoping that he somehow forgot about our incident.

"Maybe."

"Please, I need to know!" I exclaimed. He crossed his arms in an arrogant fashion and stared at me devilishly. I was a mouse dangling above a fire, and he was the one holding my tail.

"I dunno… if I don't tell you, will you slap me again?" He asked. I groaned angrily, advancing towards the counter in a menacing fashion. He backed away slowly.

"If you don't tell me where he went, I will take this fishing pole," I pointed to one of the many poles lining the walls, "and I will _shove _it down your _throat_!"

He gulped, raising his eyebrows in shock.

"Calm down!" He exclaimed, "I won't tell you if you threaten me, jeez."

"Fine. Please tell me where he is." I said as calmly as I could, trying to keep my fists from shaking. Toby smirked for a millisecond, as if he was going to make me work for it a little harder. But then his face softened the tiniest bit, and he actually seemed genuine for a moment.

"His boat just left." He said quietly.

"What? Where?!" I asked.

"He…, um," Toby began, looking very apprehensive, "He went back to his hometown."

**A/N: Dun dun dunnnn. Hah, I hope you enjoyed, and I'm sorry for the semi-cliffhanger. I'll make sure to update quick!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey all! Sorry for the long wait. I had a ton of stuff to do these past few weeks. Okay, so this chapter is in Chase's POV so don't get confused! Enjoy!**

My palms were sweaty as I gripped my suitcase in my hand and stared out onto the horizon, watching as Waffle Town slowly turned into a speck. There was nothing left for me there. I had no house, no job, and no friends except for Angela. I would write her, definitely, but I just couldn't stay.

My heart thumped as I thought of Angela, how all of this started. It was that kiss… my God, that kiss might as well been the death of me. Admittedly, I had begun crushing on Angela even when I was still courting Maya. She was just so… different. Cynical. Hilarious, but also had the decency to know when to stop. Sure, I regret leaving her in that good-for-nothing hellhole, but… it had to be done.

And then there was that freakin' _thorn _in my _side_, Toby. Ugh. Just thinking of him makes me feel tingly with anger. Especially when he uttered those words that changed everything:

"I wanted to talk to you about… the proposal."

I had scrubbing a dish at the time, and he was so obliviously loud that I _still _heard it! Without warning, the pot slipped from my grip and toppled onto the floor, along with some dishwater and suds. But I didn't care. Stepping over the mess, I approached that smug bastard and Angela, who was coughing and turning red (from embarrassment, probably).

"What?" I asked, digging my fingernails into the palm of my hand. Toby smiled unknowingly at me.

"Hm?"

"What proposal? What is this about a proposal?" I asked frantically, about ready to tear my own eyelashes off. This couldn't be happening! She couldn't be getting married to this half-lidded, nap-taking, fishy-smelling loser!

"Oh, I… well, I asked Angela to marry me! Isn't that great?"

Angela kept sputtering and pointing to her throat but I had no time to get her water right now. How could he _possibly _think that Angela was going to marry him? He had some serious issues.

"No, that isn't great!" I retorted, "You can't be marrying Angela, she likes me! Not you!"

"What are you talking about?" He asked, looking at Angela and then me again.

"We are on a date right now. What are _you _talking about?"

I could feel the steam blowing out of my ears like smoke billowing from a train. This guy was really making me angry! Who did he think he was, anyways?

After a few minutes of mindless back-and-forth insults, Angela finally intervened.

"_Will you two just shut up_?" She screeched. We both immediately stopped glaring at each other and looked over at her with open jaws. When she explained the situation, I felt a little bit better, but something was just unsettling. How could I have not known this was going on behind my back? Sure, Angela and I had only been 'seeing each other' for a little while… but a proposal? That was ridiculous.

Eventually, she let him down as nicely as she could, which was pretty disappointing. I was expecting something like, "Get out of my face! I never want to see you again! I'm with Chase now, and I don't need a bumbling idiot like you!"

But… that didn't happen. Oh well.

There was a catch, though. Now, she wanted me to help her get him together with Maya. I don't know if she was aware that these people were the top two on my 'Most Hated' list, but she probably wouldn't have cared. Damn her good conscience.

After we successfully set them up, there was that whole deal with the 'Couple's Night'. I have no idea how Angela got me to agree to that (must have been those puppy dog eyes), but somehow I ended up in Julius' house, pulling at my tight collar as he thrust a cocktail in my direction and led us to the couch. The night actually started out pretty fun; I had never played any board games before. But I just couldn't kick that funny feeling in the back of my head that Toby was staring at Angela just a few seconds too long. I had to do something.

But Angela beat me to it! Slapping Toby was probably the best thing I had ever seen her do, and I honestly believe that at that moment, my feelings for Angela became one hundred percent serious.

And then came the conversation that ruined my life. And it all started with one little misunderstanding that escalated into an argument that ultimately got me fired.

"Jake, where are the onions?" I had asked as I melted some butter on a skillet. He was sitting at one of the many tables, reading a book. He didn't even bother to take his eyes off the text. Instead, he just flitted his wrinkly hand about.

"I have no clue." He retorted. I rolled my eyes. Couldn't he get off his saggy ass and try to help me find them? He wasn't that old. He still had perfectly good use of his legs. I sighed.

"Well, I need onions to make my dinner." I said, feeling like a little kid arguing with his dad. He clucked his tongue at me.

"Chase, you know how I feel about you using up our supplies to make your own meals." He said nonchalantly, chewing at a pinky nail. I rolled my eyes.

"It's not like I have too much at my own house to work with, you know." I said. He slammed his book shut.

"Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to give you even _more _money in addition to the house funds and your weekly pay?" He asked angrily, setting the book down onto the table. I narrowed my eyes.

"You act like you're so noble!" I yelled, "Just because you paid for my house doesn't mean you get to treat me like shit!"

"I'm sick of these outbursts!" He exclaimed, standing from the table.

"Outbursts? What outbursts? Can you blame me for being angry at you?" I asked, rubbing my fingers along my temple tentatively. Thus began the long conversation that would eventually end my career as a chef at the Sundae Inn. After some insult-slinging and angry glances, I was out the door and heading home. At that moment, I was 99.99% sure that I was toast. But I couldn't let anyone else know that.

A few moments later, Angela was knocking on the door. I swear, that girl always knows when I'm feeling down. When she asked me what was wrong, I just couldn't tell her. I knew her too well. She would probably march to the Sundae Inn, knock Jake unconscious, and drop him down a mineshaft. So I kept my mouth shut.

Of course, when it was official that I was fired, I told her. I had to. Who else could come up with a foolproof plan to pull me out of this slump?

Okay, maybe not foolproof. But it was better than nothing.

She suggested that I try applying somewhere else. At first, I thought that idea was pretty clever, until I realized that I have no other useful skills or attributes. Needless to say, everywhere I applied turned me down in a few seconds flat. Hanna was polite about it, Craig insulted Angela and me at the same time, and Elli fake-smiled at me and shook her head as Gill eyed my body oddly.

Not only was I not able to get a job, but some _bozo _took my old job. His name was Jean-Pierre or something French like that… and he was a total weirdo. He wore tight leather pants and he had a spiraling mustache that was thin and creepy. I didn't even bother to introduce myself to him.

Long story short, I had to get out of this town. Little by little, I had to start selling my stuff for money. My mind was made up. I was going back to my hometown.

There was no way I was going to tell Angela, though. She would follow me, or worse, she would ask me to live with her. Not that I didn't want to… but I hated pity. I hated that just because I was poor and unemployed, people would look down on me.

So here I was, feeling the salt spray of the ocean dance on my tongue as I sighed. Waffle Town was no longer visible behind the fog, and my destination was slowly becoming visible. I let my suitcase slip from my grip and land on the wooden boat floor as I shoved my hands into my pockets. This was just another new chapter. Maybe someday I would visit Angela in Waffle Town, but for now, I would write to her.

Finally, the tip of the ferry brushed against the dock. I was home again. I gathered my things and stepped off the ferry. I walked towards the town, passing a sign that read "Welcome to Lincolntown, Home of the Largest Pudding Cup! Population:" And after the colon was a bunch of crazy scribbles, and below those were the words, "Who the f*** cares?"

Ah, it feels _so _nice to be home.

As soon as I got into town, I decided to find a place to stay for a few nights. Maybe a cheap motel or inn would do. At around four, I checked into an old, rundown motel that was drippy and probably disease-ridden. But it was a roof over my head, at least.

That night, I sat in my dim lit room and tried to scribble down a letter to send to Angela. But everything I wrote came out wrong.

_Angela, _

_I'm sorry I left, but I had to leave. There are probably a lot more jobs here in the city, and I really don't like a lot of people in Waffle Town. And a lot of them don't like me, and…_

_Angela,_

_I'm sorry I left, but it is better than receiving pity from you and everyone else…_

_Angela, _

_Do you ever get the feeling that you just need a change of scenery? _

Boy, I was bad at this kind of thing. Finally, after having a cold plate of macaroni and cheese and some tap water, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I packed up and left once again, in search for a place that was a little less dirty. I'm pretty sure at least four bugs crawled into my ears in the night, and I wasn't too keen on that fact. So as I searched for a new temporary home, I ran into something better. And cheaper.

A boarding house.

Basically, it was just a large house that many people lived in as if it was an apartment complex. I would pay the rent to the owner for a roof over my head and some free food on the table. Awesome.

"What do you want?" A tall, stocky man asked me when I knocked on the meager wooden door. I gulped, staring the man up and down. He was lanky and gigantic, probably at least six feet tall, and his head was shaped like a pinto bean.

"Um, I saw the sign outside…" I said, pointing to the white sign outside the door. He grunted.

"Do you have the money?" Bean-Head asked. I nodded. "Okay, come in and find a room."

He stepped aside and eyed me oddly as I passed through the threshold and into the dumpy building. It wasn't much better than the motel; it was old, the lights above me flickered uncontrollably, and the ceiling dripped a mysterious mixture. However, there were no bugs in sight. That was a plus.

"Who's the new guy?" Asked a short man with a gruff voice. He had a neck as thick as a tree trunk. I shuddered.

"I don't know. What's your name?" Came the nasally voice of Bean-Head.

"Chase," I replied quietly.

"Hm," Grunted Trunk-Neck, "Interesting."

He picked his teeth with a toothpick as he headed towards a room that I suspected to be the kitchen. Unsure of what to do, I wandered about the hallways, trying to find a room that might suit me. Unfortunately, there really wasn't much to choose from. Almost every door I entered, there was someone in it.

"Do you mind?" Asked a woman in curlers who was sitting at the vanity, applying a thick layer of lipstick that could only be described as "cotton candy pink".

"Woah, woah, buddy, you can't just go barging into rooms like that, eh?" Said a man with a goatee, dark sunglasses, and a beret resting on the side of his head. How did those things stay up? I would never know.

"Ugh, for the last time, I don't have your money! Oh. Sorry. Thought you were someone else." Commented an old man in a robe, undershirt, and boxers. I shielded my eyes and ran.

Finally, I found a room. It was small, cramped, and rather dusty. A bed sat in the middle of the room, the only real piece of furniture that adorned the small area, unless you counted the wilted plant in the corner. I dropped my suitcase on the floor and sat on my bed for a while, trying to think up something that I could write in a letter to Angela. A knock came to the door.

"Hey, Chad, I'm going to need the rent today, if you don't mind. You pay buy the month, got it?" Said Bean-Head as he burst the rickety door open and stared at me with beady eyes. I sighed.

"All right." I replied as I kneeled on the floor and rifled through my suitcase. He leaned on the doorframe, crossing his arms as if he was fed up with waiting. Jeez, what a weirdo. I thrust some money at him and went back to sitting on the bed. After a few minutes, I grabbed some paper and a pen.

_Angela,_

_I just found a place to live. It's pretty nice. It's a boarding house, so I live with a lot of different people. They're all really nice and they have welcomed me as their own. I think I might try to find a job tomorrow._

I set the pen down on top of the paper and sighed. Why was I lying to her? Who knows. At this rate, I'm never going to end up sending a letter. Restlessly, I crumpled up the note and, after searching the room for a trashcan, decided just to throw it on the ground.

Dinner that night was interesting. Apparently, people in a boarding house eat dinner together, so Bean-Head, Trunk-Neck, Curler-Girl, Beret-Boy, and Robe-Guy all sat down at the dinner table with sour looks on their faces and their forks in their hands. A sad excuse for a stew was shoved under my nose and all at once, people began to dig in. No conversation was exchanged for the first few minutes. No one even bothered ask who I was.

"What is this shit?" Asked Robe-Guy. His voice was unusually loud, as if he wasn't sure how to control his own volume. He coughed and sputtered uncontrollably as he spooned more of the concoction into his mouth.

"It's stew, Joe, it's what we have every night." Bean-Head replied, snorting. I stirred the 'stew' around in the bowl until it was smoother than milk, and then I stood to dump it down the sink.

"Woah, new guy. That sink is busted; you might want to use the one in the bathroom. Third door on the right down that hallway," Trunk-Neck told me, pointing down a dark corridor. I nodded curtly and ventured down the hallway. My shoes squeaked against the floorboards as I approached the bathroom.

A musky, putrid smell filled my nostrils as I stepped into the cramped bathroom and poured my full bowl of stew down the sink. I watched as the sink gurgled and bubbled. It probably didn't like the dinner too much, either. With my empty bowl, I headed back towards the kitchen where Beret-Boy and Joe (although I like my nickname for him better) were engaged in an argument over modern culture. Pfft. People in Waffle Town never argued about such weird topics.

I mentally slapped myself. This was much better than Waffle Town! No Jake, no Maya, no Toby… and when I got a job, I could buy my own place.

"Hey, new guy," Curler-Girl called to me as she attempted to rub some lipstick off of her gigantic front tooth. I gave a look that told her to go on.

"What's up with the bobby pins? You some kind of hair dresser or somethin'?"

"You mean cross dresser?" Someone mumbled under their breath. I couldn't tell who it was, though, so I ignored the comment as much as I could.

"Uh, you know, it's a long story… I should get to bed now. Goodnight." I called very quickly before heading up the stairs. Jeez, these people were obnoxious. As soon as I got to my room, I flopped onto my bed in exhaustion, thinking back to the reason that I had these hairpins in the first place.

I had been living at the orphanage for about a year, and I hadn't had a haircut. No one had. It's not like most of us were concerned with our appearances anyway, but after a year, well… it was getting kind of ridiculous. My hair was past my shoulders, and it was unruly and unkempt. As much as my appearance didn't matter, it was actually becoming a nuisance.

Some of the kids gave each other haircuts, and some of them cut their own hair. At this time, most of the kids still didn't like me. I was the youngest of them all, and they seemed to already have their own friends. They didn't need any more. So, asking someone else to cut my hair would not be a good idea. I took the pair of rusty scissors in my hand and cut away at the pieces.

By the time I was finished, I was horrified. I look like someone put my head into a blender for about an hour. The bangs in the front were too long, and the back was layered in all these different ways. In short, I looked like a freak.

Not only did I get laughed at, but people taunted me, too. Finally, one day as I was helping out in the kitchen, the cook, Sheila, handed me some hairpins. She told me that it might look better if the long part was pulled backwards. And, well… I never really had a desire to change my hair after that. So it stuck.

I laughed to myself as I lay on my bed, fiddling with the pins. The bed was stiff and it had foreign stains on it that I avoided like the plague. The next day, I would be looking for a job. Hopefully, I'd be gone all day. But probably not, knowing my luck.

I dressed in a nice shirt and a tie before heading out the door, not bothering to tell the others where I was going. The first place I saw that was hiring was a small diner with a white-and-red sort of theme. Like the 50's. I pushed open the door and heard a small _ding _above my head.

"Can I help you?" Asked an older woman at the counter. I nodded.

"I'm looking for a job… I saw a Now Hiring sign outside the door." I told her, stepping in to the fluorescent-lit restaurant. Customers sipping milkshakes eyed me strangely.

"Okay, here," She said, handing me an application. I smiled, thanked her, and left.

By the end of the day, I had picked up six applications and two business cards. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all? Being a 'culinary artist' really did have its benefits. That night, I slept soundly. No bugs in my ears.

The next day was the day I would fill out everything and possibly turn a few applications in. Thank the Goddess (or should I say God? Hm.) that Lincolntown was small. Finding all these places was a piece of cake.

However, fate had a different plan for me today. At around two in the afternoon, a knock came to the door. Bean-Head answered it, looking clearly perturbed. He was in the middle of a vigorous chess game with Beret-Boy.

"Why hello there, little lady." He greeted the mystery guest. He must like her, for I had never heard him use that welcoming tone of voice. As I stared out of my room, I saw the unknown woman step into the room. My jaw dropped as I stared at her green shirt, tool pack, and brown shorts. Her eyes were large with worry and her hair was frazzled. It was Angela.

"Chad!" Bean-Head called.

"It's Chase." She corrected him.

"Er, Chase!"

Confusedly, I emerged from my room and headed towards the main hallway cautiously. Angela glared at me as I came into sight. Oh, boy, this was going to be quite the episode.

"Can I speak with you outside?" She asked. I nodded slowly and followed her out the door. As soon as I shut the door, she smacked me. My face throbbed as I rubbed the tender spot.

"I guess I deserved that," I commented, looking away. She growled audibly.

"You bet your ass you deserved it." She said angrily, "What the _hell _were you thinking?!"

I stared at her shaky eyes and sighed.

"You know what I was thinking. That town was no good for me… everyone hated me anyways."

"No, they don't! Everyone has been freaking out since you left!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air, "And you think a place like _this _is better?"

She pointed to the looming building behind us. I shrugged my shoulders.

"How did you find me?" I asked.

"I ran into that creepy guy at the diner down there," She replied, pointing down the street, "I had been looking for you all day. And after searching, I was exhausted, and all I wanted to do was sit and eat something. He asked me what was wrong, and I told him the spiel, and then he said he knew you."

Damn you, Bean-Head. Damn you!

"I see." I commented, fingering a piece of my hair between my index finger and thumb. She sighed and nodded.

"I'm really angry." She said after a few seconds of silence. Her voice was calm, but her features were rigid. I took her hand, and she stiffened up even more.

"I'm sorry, okay? I couldn't tell you, because then you would have felt obligated to… to ask me to live with you, or something crazy like that."

Her face fell immediately after that statement. That probably wasn't the best thing to say.

"Something crazy like that?" She repeated.

"Well, no… not crazy. I mean, you wouldn't want have me living in your house, would you? I'm obnoxious, and sarcastic, and, and…"

She put her index finger on my lower lip to get me to shut up.

"Yeah, you are obnoxious. And sarcastic. But that wouldn't stop me." She said, her eyes wide. I smiled a little.

"So, what're you saying?"

"I'm saying that I have good news. And bad news. And then some more good news." She said, lacing her fingers between mine.

"What?"

"Well, the good news is that Jean-Claude was fired!" She exclaimed, smiling genuinely for the first time in a while. It made me feel warm.

"Really? What'd he do?"

"Apparently, Hamilton said that he should wear some more 'work appropriate' pants and that 'no one wants to see that when they're trying to eat their lunch'. And then Jean-Claude told him he was going to deep-fry his face, or something crazy like that. Jake had to fire him for threatening."

I burst into fits of laughter, just imagining a terrified Hamilton as Jean-Claude threatened to fry his face.

"Now the bad news," Angela began, "… They already have a replacement."

I sighed, my laughter instantly dying as I felt my shoulders slump. As much as I wanted to get away from Waffle Town… Lincolntown was just awful. The people, the boarding house, and the mediocre jobs that I had tried convincing myself they were worthwhile. As soon as I saw Angela, I yearned to go back.

"Maya is the replacement," She said, looking down at the floor, "You know, after they go through a vigorous four week training session."

I nodded slowly, not sure about where she was going with this.

"Now, the other good news. Maya is still going to work as a waitress during the daytime, but now she will be the cook during the night. But this means she will have no free time for her TV show…"

My face lit up immediately as I wrapped her in a lung-crushing hug.

"You're kidding!" I exclaimed, "The cooking show? It's mine?"

"Yes!" Angela shouted, "I pulled some strings, and, well… it just happened!"

Without thinking, I pulled out of the hug and kissed her hard on the lips. She softened in my grip as I felt myself completely and utterly relieved for the first time in a while. I pulled away, smiling down at Angela, and let go.

"Now, go get your things!" She exclaimed happily, "The ferry leaves in twenty minutes!"

**A/N: Yayy, finally a sort of happy ending to a chapter. Woo! Let me know what you thought. Oh, and Blubber Nuggets... you pwn.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed for this story. I'm glad you have all liked this story, and I'm sorry to say that this is the last chapter. I hope you like what I have done with the ending!**

I had burst out On the Hook faster than you could say 'fried fish'. It was true, Chase was gone.

I watched as the ferry turned into a miniscule dot floating atop the glossy blue sea, and I knew what I was going to do. I was going to follow him…eventually. I couldn't just go across the sea and beg him to come home. What argument could I make? What deal could I offer? I still needed time to think of the one question that was eating away at my insides:

Was I ready to ask him to move in with me?

I trembled at the thought. I had never really committed to anything in my life. Maybe it was time I did so.

In the mean time, I had to think of anything and everything that I could do to get Chase back. And the only way I could think of doing that was by securing him a job. But how…?

"You know, I have an idea."

I jumped a little, surprised to hear someone else's voice behind me. I whirled around to see Toby, looking lackadaisical with his hands in his pockets. I frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you were talking to yourself. Saying you needed to get a job for Chase…"

Wow, had I really gone that insane? I was talking to myself aloud, and I didn't even notice.

"Oh. That's… embarrassing." I admitted as I stared down at my scuffed shoes, "Um, what's your idea?"

"You could get that guy fired."

"What guy?"

"You know, that guy. What's his name…? John Claw or something weird."

"Jean-Claude?" I asked, feeling a sense of enlightenment run through my veins. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

"Yeah! Him. Rumor has it that he's got quite the temper." Toby replied thoughtfully, biting his bottom lip. I could feel my eyes light up as he continued to talk, "If you could somehow get him to freak out on someone, he'd be gone in an instant."

"Wow, you are… a genius!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down in excitement. He grinned lopsidedly.

"Heh. Thanks. You know, I might take a lot of naps, but I really do pay attention to stuff." He commented, scratching the back of his silvery head of hair. I smiled.

"Thank you. So much!" I exclaimed, clearly too ecstatic to register the fact that Toby and I were having a civil conversation. But that didn't really matter, "I have to go… thanks again."

"Not a problem." He replied, nodding in my direction before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading back towards On the Hook. Hurriedly, I walked towards the Sundae Inn. I couldn't wait one moment.

A sugary, fresh smell filled my nostrils as I entered the Inn. It was tantalizing enough to cause my mouth to water uncontrollably. What was that heavenly scent?

"'Ello, mademoiselle. Cahr to try my petit éclairs? They auh magnifique!"

My taste buds and my brain were battling over his inquiry. Oh, Goddess, they smelled so good!

"Um, sure."

Timidly, I sat at the counter as he slid a cream-colored pastry onto a plate and set it down before me. I was practically drooling. He made a disgusted face at me as he handed me a napkin.

As I took a bite of the divine pastry, I took a second to look around me. There had to be something in here that could spark an idea on how to flare his temper. That's when my eyes rested upon Mayor Hamilton as he greedily munched on a sandwich the size of his face. Bingo.

Who better to piss off the French guy than Mayor Hamilton? He could ban him from the town, if he wanted to! As I polished off the rest of the éclair, I looked at Jean-Claude slyly as I devised a quick dialogue in my head.

"So," I began in a low voice as he whirled around, "I have a bit of information you might want to know."

"Oui?"

"Um, you see Mayor Hamilton over there?" I asked, pointing past my shoulder. He nodded thoughtfully. "Well, um… he thinks your pants are too tight."

Wow. Really? Was that the best I could come up with?

"He does?"

"Er… yes! He thinks it's revolting!" I replied in a sure voice. He narrowed his dark brown eyes and pinched his mustache attentively.

"Vhat does he know abot fashione?" He asked in an accusing tone, staring the mayor up and down with an angry expression. I shrugged.

"Just telling you what I've heard. I have to leave now. Goodbye!" I exclaimed as I slammed down a few coins to pay. I grinned to myself as I headed back towards my house. Sure, it wasn't the brightest idea, but at least it was something. Now, to take it to the next level.

The next morning, I strolled into the Sundae Inn to find the Mayor there, once again. Jeez, did he ever leave that place?

"Hello!" I greeted him with a fake smile. He wiped his mouth of crumbs and waved me over to his table.

"Hi, Angela! How are you?" He asked, licking morsels off of his pudgy fingers. Yuck.

"I'm fine, but I'm a little troubled…" I said, pretending to seem worried about something.

"Oh, is it about Chase? I'm sorry to hear he left. I know you two were good friends." He commented, taking a sip of herbal tea. I shook my head.

"Well, no, it's not about that." I replied, twiddling my thumbs thoughtfully, "It's about… the new chef."

He took a peek behind his mountainous shoulders and stared at the French man, who was humming an unknown tune snootily as he popped something into the oven.

"What about him?"

"Well… agh, this is going to sound silly." I said, trying to feign embarrassment. Hamilton clicked his tongue at me.

"Nonsense! What's on your mind?"

"It's… well, it's his pants."

"His pants?"

"Yes! They're… well, they're awfully tight. And I'm not the only person who thinks this. I think that, for the civility of the town, of course, he should have a slight change in wardrobe. I mean, you can practically see… um, er…"

"See what?"

"His… _you know_."

"I'm afraid I don't."

Ugh! Why did Hamilton have to be so oblivious sometimes? Desperately, I tried to motion with my hands, but that was definitely not working. Feeling incredibly awkward, I sighed.

"Oh! You mean…" Mayor Hamilton began, squinting his eyes in disgust. I nodded, "You mean his behind? Disgusting!"

I slapped my forehead in exasperation, but nodded nonetheless.

"Sure. His 'behind'. Anyways, I think it's rather disgusting, but I can't tell him! Could you do it for me?" I asked urgently, clasping my hands together. Hamilton frowned a bit.

"I guess I could do that. Only for you, Angela! But not right now. I have to get back to work! I must have lost track of the time. I'll be back this afternoon. Goodbye, now!"

I waved goodbye to him as he hastily stood, bumping the table with his belly in the process. As he waddled out the door, I smiled triumphantly to myself. Sneakily, I headed towards the counter of the bar and tapped on the counter.

"Vhat ees eet, mademoiselle?" Jean-Claude asked, slinging a dishtowel over his slender shoulder.

"Mayor Hamilton was talking about you again! Saying that he wants to order that you get new pants, or something." I said quietly, feeling sort of bad that I was exploiting the mayor like that. But this had to be done!

"Ugh! I weel teach him a thing or deux abot messing with moi!" He exclaimed, wringing the dishtowel in his hands angrily. I snickered to myself. He looked so funny when he was mad! His mustache twitched and his dark-brown eyes grew even darker. I wish I could take a picture of it.

"Well, I have to leave now. Goodbye!" I called, trying not to seem happy. He waved half-heartedly before going back to washing a dish.

In a fit of joy, I decided to head over to On the Hook to see if Toby wanted to see the little show. I had decided earlier that I would turn over a new leaf with Toby. I mean, if he had been gracious enough to give me that brilliant idea, than I should be gracious enough to forgive him, right?

After telling Toby all about the plan (and receiving from weird looks from Ozzie), we decided to go to the Sundae Inn together that afternoon to view the show firsthand.

At around three in the afternoon, we walked towards the Inn excitedly, hoping that Jean-Claude would blow up like Toby said he would. We entered just as Hamilton was approaching the counter with a determined look on his face. When he spotted me, he grinned and nodded, mouthing some words that I couldn't decipher.

Toby and I sat down at a table and pretended like we were staring at a menu. I heard Hamilton's timid voice first.

"Um, hello there." He greeted, criss-crossing his fingers together. Jean-Claude grunted at him, not bothering to say 'hello' back.

"So, um, it has come to my attention that… er, well… I think your pants need to be a little more 'work appropriate'. Do you understand?" He asked, talking slowly as if he was speaking to a five-year-old who only spoke Swahili. For the second time that day, I slapped my forehead. He was French, not illiterate!

"Vhat?" Jean-Claude asked loudly as a crease formed between his eyes. Hamilton gulped.

"Well, no one wants to see… _that _when they're eating lunch."

Simultaneously, Toby and I burst into giggles that we desperately tried to hide. They didn't seem to notice.

"See vhat? Dees ees my culture! You auh insulting!"

Hamilton frowned as he twiddled his thumbs together.

"I understand that it is what is considered 'fashionable' in your culture, but-"

"You cannot tell me vhat to weer, monsieur!" He exclaimed, slamming his spatula down on the table.

"But all I'm asking is for a tiny little change. It's not like you need those to do your job. You could fry food without those pants." Hamilton said calmly. Toby and I were on the edge of our seats as Jean-Claude clenched his fists at his sides.

"I weel fry your fahce if you don't geet out!"

"_Excuse _me?" Came a low, tremendous voice from the top of the stairs. There stood Jake, frowning down at the scene. Toby and I high-fived under the table.

"That's a threat, you know." Jake bellowed as his face tightened uncomfortably, "I'm going to have to fire you for that."

I wanted to squeal, but I kept it at bay. Jean-Claude's face dropped significantly as Hamilton pounded his fists on the counter.

"And you're leaving my town, too!" He exclaimed in a fit of anger. Mission accomplished! Silently, we snuck out the door of the Inn.

"That was _hilarious_!" Toby exclaimed, chuckling a little as he did so. I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, especially the look on his face! Priceless!" I exclaimed, clutching my stomach. When I calmed down, I looked up at Toby and smiled, "Thanks again for the idea. I'm going to head out tomorrow to get Chase. I'll see you later, okay?"

He nodded and we said our goodbyes. Happily, I bounced back to my home, anxious to see the look on Chase's face when I told him the news.

Oh, if only life was that simple.

The next morning, I went to the Inn to grab some breakfast before leaving. But of course, I had other intentions.

"So… Jake, if I were to tell you I could get Chase to come back, would you hire him?" I asked nonchalantly as I sipped some herbal tea. Jake narrowed his eyes.

"I hate to break it to you, but I've already hired Maya. She said she wanted to become more, er, independent, so I gave her the job and she's moving into her own place. Chase's old house, actually."

"_What_?" I exclaimed, feeling my whole world crashing down on me. Jake nodded as he scrubbed a dish. How could he hire Maya? Sure, she's his daughter, but she's possibly the worst cook in this town! I glowered at him.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry it was such short notice."

I sighed, feeling tears threaten to fall down my cheeks. I quickly blinked them away and stared at Jake.

"Please, you have to help me out here. I understand that you and Chase have had your, um, differences, but there has to be something he can do!" I exclaimed, feeling desperate. Jake's brow furrowed as he pinched his chin between his index finger and thumb.

"Well, I suppose he can take over the cooking show. Maya won't have time for it now," Jake replied indifferently. I squealed as I clapped my hands together excitedly. Wow, I didn't know Jake was capable of being nice.

"That would be… amazing. You have no clue. Thank you so much!" I exclaimed as I waved and burst out of the Inn. I had to find Chase, _now_.

Except, one problem still posed itself in my mind. Was I going to ask him to move in? I had to. With the way his life has been going, how could he afford to build a new house?

As I boarded the ferry and directed Pascal to head towards where Chase had departed to just a few days ago, I tried to muster up as much confidence as I could. What were the reasons that I liked Chase?

We had a lot in common

He was funny

He was a great cook

He was mature

His hair was awesome

His clothes weren't bad either

God, I sound like I'm describing a Barbie Doll. In all seriousness, I searched my mind for the reasons why we were together, and the reasons why we should stay together. And that's when I realized something.

He was sarcastic and cynical

My first impression of him was awful

He could be pretty annoying

He wasn't very social

But, for some reason, none of those things bothered me. They were what made him… different. Different from anyone else I had ever dated, at least. And even if he could annoy the crap out of me… it didn't make a difference. I smiled to myself as we approached the town.

I got off the ferry and thanked Pascal, telling him that if he stayed there until I returned, I would pay him. He gladly accepted, saying something about how the 'sea was his home' and that he 'loved the feel of the ferry rocking on the waves'. What a freak.

I headed into the small town not exactly sure what I was going to do. It's not like I could go door to door asking for Chase like he was a lost puppy or something.

"Hm…" I pondered aloud, "If I was Chase, where would I be?"

I made it into the town and was taken aback by the overall… grayness of the place. The buildings were monotonous colors and the people looked absolutely drab. It didn't help that it was cloudy out, either.

First, I headed for a small Italian restaurant, wondering if he had gotten a job yet. But when I asked, the response was in Italian. Warily, I left the building and headed for the next food establishment I could find.

Unfortunately for me, it was practically impossible to find him when I had no clue where to start. The town wasn't large, but he could be anywhere! After about four hours of wandering around, asking if anyone had seen a 'tall man with peach-colored hair and bobby pins', I was exhausted. Not only physically, but mentally, too. The people in this town were so rude! Most people just grunted and kept walking, or they would bust out laughing at my description.

Finally, I sat down at a diner on the east side of town and ordered a coffee, feeling completely and utterly dejected.

"What's wrong, little missy?" Came a voice from next to me. I whirled around to see an awkward-looking man with a bean-shaped head staring at me with beady eyes.

"Um… well, I've been looking for someone for the past few hours and haven't found him." I said quietly as I sipped my coffee.

"I'm sorry to hear that! What's the name? I know a lot of people in this town." He commented, smiling at me. Wow, this guy was a total creeper.

"Um, his name is Chase, he's tall and he has peach-colored hair." I said, getting ready for another 'sorry, I don't know him'. But instead, his eyes lit up.

"I know that guy! He has been living at my boarding house for a few days. Wanna stop by?"

I nodded vigorously, feeling a sense of relief overwhelm me. And anger. Chase was definitely going to get it when I saw him.

The creepy guy led me to an equally creepy building that was close to the diner.

"Could you hold on, like, a few minutes?" I asked quickly, remembering Pascal. He nodded and headed inside as I ran towards the dock.

"Pascal!" I called, waving at him. He seemed to have dozed off on the boat, for when he heard his name, he jolted and looked up at me with bleary eyes.

"Get the boat ready to leave, all right? I'll be back in a bit!" I exclaimed. He nodded his head and gave me a thumbs-up before I headed back towards the boarding house. Anxiously, I knocked on the door.

"Why hello there, little lady." Said the skeezy guy. I shuddered uncontrollably as I muttered a 'hello'.

"Chad!" He called into the hallway.

"It's Chase." I told him. Hadn't Chase been living there for three days? How does this guy not know his name?

"Er, Chase!"

The moment I saw him emerge from the hallway, a range of emotions swirled inside of me, causing me to feel almost nauseous. First and foremost, I was angry. It was insensitive of him to not even say a word about leaving. But also, I felt pity. The way he looked so rundown and unhappy… this place really didn't seem like the kind of place for Chase. Anxiously, I pulled him outside with me and slapped him.

"I guess I deserved that," he commented as he rubbed his cheek. I grunted angrily.

"You bet your ass you deserved it." I shouted, "What the _hell _were you thinking?!"

Then he proceeded to spew out some nonsense about how everyone in Waffle Town hated him, and how he didn't want me to feel obligated to ask him to move in.

"I mean, you wouldn't want have me living in your house, would you? I'm obnoxious, and sarcastic, and, and…" He stuttered, looking down at his shoes.

Boldly, I placed my index finger on his lips to get him to shut up. He looked down at me with wide, uncertain eyes.

"Yeah, you are obnoxious. And sarcastic. But that wouldn't stop me." I said. He smiled a little.

And then I told him the good news. About Jean-Claude (although I did leave out the little detail that I was involved in it), and about Maya, and about the TV show. He couldn't have been happier!

"Now, go get your things!" I exclaimed, "The ferry leaves in twenty minutes!"

--

"Just a few little touch ups… there! You are ready for your first day!" I exclaimed as I fixed his collar for the millionth time. He smiled down at me with a glint of anxiety in his eyes, "Don't worry. You'll be amazing!"

"You sure? Don't you think I look a little… nerdy?"

"Of course not. You look… dashing!" I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around his neck. He smiled and pushed his lips against mine as I laced my fingers through his hair.

"Okay, okay, okay," He said as he pulled away, "I really have to leave now! Wish me luck!"

"You'll do fine. And remember to smiiiile!" I exclaimed, poking his cheek with my finger. He rolled his eyes playfully.

"Yes, _mom_…" He said grudgingly as he stepped out the door. Anxiously, I turned the TV on and waited, picking at my fingernails.

Chase had moved in the day we came back from Lincolntown one season ago. It had been kind of rough at first; we were both pretty broke and for a while, we had to shove all of our clothes into one drawer (trust me, it was _not _pretty). Oh, and there was this whole phase where he wanted to paint the house orange, which definitely didn't go over well with me. But everything just felt more… complete in my life. I had someone to wake up to, and someone to kiss goodnight when I went to sleep. And now, I was sending him off on his first day on the job.

"Are you sure I have to wear this hat?" Came a voice on the television. Quickly, I tore away from my thoughts and stared at the television where an exasperated Chase was standing. He was wearing a tall, white chef's hat that looked like it was squeezing his head. I chuckled.

"Oh, we're on? Ah! We're on! Hello, my name is Chase and I will be your new host for your favorite cooking show! Today, we will be teaching you how to make Miso Soup. First, you will need…"

Unconsciously, I felt myself beam just watching him on there, looking uncomfortable in his chef's hat. And sometimes, he would look straight at the camera and smile, as if he knew I was looking at him. It made me feel warm inside.

Just an hour later, he returned to the house looking absolutely and undeniably happy. And honest to Goddess, it was the first time I had seen him like this.

"You did amazing!" I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around his neck. He grinned widely.

"Did you hear what I did in the beginning? That was so embarrassing! I didn't know the red light meant that it was recording! Ah, but it was _so _fun. And did you see when I…"

I listened intently as he kept going on, practically bursting at the seams with excitement. And for once in our relationship, I felt something more than 'like', and something deeper than a relationship. I felt… _love_. And I felt nauseous. But mostly, love. Smiling at him, I waited for him to finish before I pressed my lips against his. I felt him smile against my lips as he wrapped his arms around my back.

"What was that for?" He finally said as we pulled away. I shrugged.

"Nothing," I said, feeling a sense of excitement overwhelm me, "No reason at all."

--

_Ding, ding, ding_!

"A toast!" I exclaimed as I hit my fork against a champagne glass, "To Toby and Maya!"

"Here, here!" Chase said happily, rising his glass into the air. Toby and Maya chuckled uncontrollably, tipping over to one side on the couch.

"We've all had our up's and down's," I began, hearing an 'amen' come from Toby, "But we couldn't be happier that you two are getting married! Congratulations!"

Toby and Maya looked happily at each other and laced their fingers together. It had been three seasons since Chase's first day on the job, and now Toby and Maya were getting married. As soon as I heard the news, we invited them to our house for a small get together.

"Thank you so much, guys!" Maya exclaimed, smiling widely. Chase stood abruptly, wobbling to one side a little (I'm guessing he had a little too much champagne), before heading to kitchen to grab something. Toby and Maya grinned expectantly at me, as if they knew something I didn't. Furrowing my brow, I looked at Chase who immediately turned red upon seeing me. What was going on here?

"I, um…" Chase began as he pulled something out from the kitchen cabinet. It was a gigantic cake with white frosting on it. I grinned as he approached us, setting the cake down on the table timidly. I felt a crease form in my forehead as I wondered why everyone was staring at me expectantly, until I looked at the cake. It had a gigantic, red frosting heart on it, and sitting next to the cake on the tray was a feather. A brilliant, blue feather.

"Are you… proposing?" I choked out, clutching my heart.

"What? No, I just thought this blue feather looked nice. You know, as a decoration," He said, smiling at me, "Of course I'm proposing!"

"You're awful," I said, laughing as I did so.

"I love you." He replied in all seriousness, fingering the blue tendrils of the feather.

"I love you, too." I replied sincerely, wrapping my arms around him and kissing him tenderly, "And it's a yes." I heard Maya squeal from next to me as she bounced up and down on the couch.

"Oh my gosh! You can be my bridesmaid, and I can be yours!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. Pulling away from the kiss, I felt something I hadn't ever felt before. Complete and utter sanguinity. And I knew Chase could feel it, too. As Toby and Maya cheered together, I saw as Chase took a handful of the cake and looked at me devilishly.

"Oh, no you don't!" I exclaimed, but I was too late. He pressed the glob of food onto my face as I grabbed my own handful and did the same. As we all chortled heartily, I knew one thing was for certain. I was going to be with this man for the rest of my life.

And that is how the peach-haired, snooty, bobby pin-wearing boy and the silly-grinned, stubborn, high-and-mighty farmer came to be happily married, and live happily ever after.

**A/N: The end! Okay, so the ending was a bit cheesy, but... Voila! I hope you enjoyed this story, because I definitely enjoyed writing it. Thanks to all who read and reviewed, you have really kept my spirits high about my writing. I hope that you check out my other Tree of Tranquility fic that I'm working on right now! Thanks again! **


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